Baby Barred Owl rescue!

As the afternoon was drawing to a close, I was sitting in my front yard watching Chester chow down on a great big rat while being pestered by Blue Jays and Mocking Birds. Usually, he would fly to a more protected branch to eat, but he was an owl on a mission. Shortly after, I heard a neighbor's dog barking- at something next door, so I walked over, and there was a fledgling baby Barred owl in the driveway. Not a good place for a baby owl! I first put the baby at the foot of the tree, I know they can climb very well, but it wasn't co-operating, so a new plan was hatched. With help of my neighbors Paul and Carol and their nice tall ladder, we managed to put the baby high up in the crotch of an oak tree, likely the one it fell out of, with both mom and dad nearby watching the whole time. It was amazing to pick it up- so tiny and light and covered in fluff. It stared at me and clacked it's beak, but never tried to bite. In a little while after it was safe up in the tree, I heard the baby making it's "folks, I'm really hungry" cry, and one of the parents swooped down to feed it, so all is well. When the fledglings are about 4-5 weeks old, they leave the nest and climb all over the tree, they are called branchers at this point. This guy probably fell out while climbing, there was a fresh broken branch near it. Soon, they will flap and glide from tree to tree- probably driving mom and dad crazy with their feed me cries, and the parents will feed them for up to 6 months. After finding the baby, I now understand why Chester was concentrating on eating his rat and ignoring the mobbing birds. After I heard it making the hungry cry, I walked nearby, but one of the parents swooped down at me, better to leave well enough alone.


Chester, eating his rat-

Baby owl on driveway-

Baby owl at foot of tree, showing wings-

Ready to go up the ladder

Placing it in the oak tree crotch

Safe!