20180103-Eastern Screech Owl

Via volunteer Mary: I received a call from the rescue coordinator stating that a caller had an owl down on her deck.  When I arrived at the location I found a gray phase eastern screech owl sitting quietly on the deck against the house.  The homeowner did a good job of covering the owl with a makeshift tent to protect it from other predators until I got there.  I did a field exam and could not find anything wrong with the wings, eyes or talons and the keel felt well.  The little owl was alert and did a bit of “beak clacking” but did not seem too concerned when it was approached or when I picked it up.  Since it was basically sitting in the same spot all day, I decided that even though I could find nothing wrong with it I should bring it back to Fort Wayne so that Dr. Funnell could do a  full examination. 01/04/2018 Initial exam by our avian veterinarian:  This little guy was bright and alert.  No abnormalities were found on radiographs or bloodwork.  No problems were found on examination.  He will be kept in ICU and monitored for several days to ensure no problems surface.  His prognosis to be returned to the wild is good. 01/15/2018 Via volunteer Mary: On January 14th I drove back to Decatur, IN with the gray phase eastern screech owl that had been picked up on January 3rd.  The owl had been in ICU for a few days after his initial assessment but quickly found his way back to our main facility where he continued to eat well and shared a pen with another screech owl.  On Thursday January 11th, we jessed this little owl up to a creance line to see how well he could fly and he had no difficulty whatsoever, so we decided that it was time for him to return home.  After arriving at the property, we headed out closer to the woods because we wanted to make sure that the owl could get up in a tree quickly once released.  I then removed him from the transport box so that the family could see him up close, and after a brief bit of owl facts, I turned and opened my hands and he immediately headed off into the woods, hopefully to his mate.