On December 19th, 2010, we received a call regarding an injured Eastern Screech Owl. The adult female grey phase Eastern Screech Owl was found in the road by Patrick of Northport while he was on his Sunday morning run! After finding the owl, Patrick ran home to get a box. He returned with box in hand and carefully placed the screech owl into the box and began to search for help. Luckily, he was put in touch with us and the owl was brought to our hospital soon after.
When the owl arrived, she was very cool and in shock. She was warmed up and examined. Her hefty weight of .180 kilograms indicated she was likely a female and a well-fed one at that! Unfortunately, she was pretty banged up from her ordeal (presumably an automobile collision.)
The owl was unable to stand upright. Examination of her eyes revealed vision loss in her right eye. Blood could be seen in the eye and her right eye showed no response to movement or light. Fortunately, her left eye appeared unharmed. In addition to her eye damage, the owl had a severe injury to her shoulder. The position of her wing at a harsh upward angle along with severe swelling in the shoulder region indicated a probable fracture of the coracoid. The coracoid is a bone in the chest cavity that helps to stablize the wing to the sternum to allow flight. Fractures of the coracoid will usually ground the bird temporarily, if not forever. Coracoid fractures are made even trickier to treat due to the bone's proximity to bird's internal organs.
We rehydrated the owl and started her on medication for the swelling. We stabilized her wing with a wrap that secured the wing in its natural position to the body. She was then set up to calm down from her stressful day. For several days following her initial trauma, the owl remained in critical condition. She had to be fed via feeding tube and after a few days she graduated to small rodent pieces. By the fourth day, she was able to perch on the soft towel in her cage. We continued to work with the wing over the course of the next ten days. The swelling subsided and she began to hold her wing in the correct position! Gradually, her damaged eye became more responsive as well. In early January, we were able to move her to a larger aviary to practice flight and to test her vision and hunting abilities. Luckily, the owl did better than we could have imagined!
On January 13th, almost a month after her ordeal, the owl was ready for release! She was released at the Makamah Preserve in Northport in the early afternoon to give her time to get her bearings before nightfall. The two volunteers who released her reported that she flew beautifully up to a tree branch.
