3d ago

Look What the Storm Blew In!

An out of season Saw Whet in New York City!

This little quy is a Northern saw-whet owl, and he appears to be as surprised as we were to find him at the clinic. He was found on the Upper East Side, unable to fly and very wet. He came in drenched, cold and stuporous. After a blow dry, some warmth and fluids, the owl perked up, then spent the night in an incubator with oxygen. Today he was feistier and defensive.
We suspect he suffered a collision of some sort, based on his demeanor and some dried blood under his chin. But we'll be doing further examination once he's more stable.
Photo by Eugene Oda

6 comments

OMGGGGGGG SO CUUUUUTE!!!! Those big eyes!!
Hope he recovers well.
- I just went to look to see if they are least added a picture of it after it dried off, and it seems your wishes have been granted!
  Someone was feeling a lot better yesterday! A wet, cold bird is a miserable bird, and this Northern saw-whet owl was as miserable as can be when he arrived on Sunday night. We believe he just got swept up in the big storm, suffered a mild window collision and then was too wet and cold to fly again.
  Fortunately, there was nothing else wrong with this adult owl, so after he passed his flight test yesterday, we released him to avoid any further stress. It's a little late in the season for these owls to be here, so we hope this one will find his summer spot soon.
  Good luck out there, buddy!
  I had been wondering how out of its migration it was for the area and if they'd have to hold onto it because it missed its chance to succeed if it returned after everyone else.
  I'm glad it got a clean bill of health, and I hope it does well back up north!
  
  He does an excellent moth impression
  
  NYC is in the southern end of the year-round range for them, so it should be ok if it was in the area already.

6 comments