Rescuing Juvenile Owls in Greater Tucson-1st Response Wildlife, Helping Them Survive

Owls in the Sonoran Desert come in a variety of sizes.  Burrowing, Screech, and Pygmy Owls are small and often seen only as mature adults.  Two of the largest owls, found in the Sonoran Desert, Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls, while not often seen in the daytime as adults, are found routinely as juveniles.  You might ask why that is.  Primarily, when these larger owls grow to a size where, when it is time to test their wings and begin active competition for space, if they fall from their nest and not be able to get back to its safety, they are so large that they are easily noticeable by homeowners and business people.  Also, because of their size and the fact they are still juveniles, not quite able to fly/escape; they are easy prey for coyotes, dogs, cats, and other larger predators.  In some cases they have been hurt when they tried to fly, their parent may have been hurt or killed in a night-time hunting accident, or, as is often the case with Barn Owls, a nest in a bale of hay is sold and transported to a feed store and, only then are baby Barn Owls discovered-parent-less. 

Whatever the reason, 1^st Response Wildlife averages several calls in the spring to pick up and transport juvenile Owls to rehabbers, where they are raised until they can fend for themselves before they are safely returned to the wild.  Again, because of their size, while there are calls to rescue and nurture smaller owls to maturity, the vast majority of Juvenile Owl calls in the spring are for the larger juvenile Great Horned Owls and Barn Owls.

Below are but a few of the pictures of Juvenile Great Horned Owls and Barn Owls which have been rescued and transported to one of the rehabbers which takes in, nurtures and then returns Owls to the Wild. (If you hover your cursor over the pictures, there are labels which identify what is pictured.)

These Juvenile Barn Owls, pictured below were, similar to others that were discovered last year in hay delivered to a feed store, living parent-less in hay and, without a quick response and transport to a rehabber, where they are being, for the moment, hand fed, it is easy to see, based on their age, that they would not have survived.

 

Four other juveniles were also among almost half a dozen Juvenile Great Horned Owls 1^st Response Wildlife has transported to a rehabber this spring.  (Each juvenile has its species, location where it was found recorded, the individual or business that discovered and reported it logged, and paperwork is submitted to Arizona Game and Fish Department.  This helps document territorial population of the species etc.)  Again, without direct care and nurturing to maturity, it is highly likely that none of these would have survived.  Below are pictures of transport, physical evaluation by a rehabber, and current juvenile accommodations.  Once these juveniles have completely feathered out, they are transferred to a large fly-way structure where they will practice flying, learning to eat food naturally found in the desert and, finally released back into the wild.

 

 

If you find an owl of any size that appears to be abandoned, hurt, or unable to find its way back to its nest, please call 1^st Response Wildlife or one of the rehabbers in the Greater Tucson area and we all would be happy to work with you to determine the best course of action to protect these valuable resources.

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!