Burrowing Owl Takes Time To Recover

The following story was shared with us by Clinic For The Rehabilitation Of Wildlife (CROW) in Florida.

A juvenile burrowing owl was found in the middle of the road on May 31 in Cape Coral, Florida. Rescuers thought the owl may have been hit by a car.

On presentation the bird was standing and holding its wings normally. There was blood on the right nostril and there seemed to be a malocclusion of its jaw. The veterinarian performed a physical exam and found that the animal was a little thin with a body condition score of 2/5 and a weight of 98 grams (about 3.5 ounces).

We gave the patient some subcutaneous fluids and pain medicine, and then we let him rest in a quiet, warm cage. Once he had calmed down and seemed less painful, we gavage-fed 3% body weight of EmerAid Intensive Care Carnivore. We did not want to feed solid food until we established what, if anything, was wrong with the jaw.

After two days in our care, the jaw seemed to be functioning normally, and the patient was able to eat on his own. The burrowing owl was released with a body condition score of 2.5/5 and had gained approximately 10 grams (about 0.35 ounces) in its six-day stay.