Orphaned Great Horned Owlets Find A Home Until Adulthood

The following story was shared with us by Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey.

In the spring of 2017, Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge admitted two unrelated great horned owlets. The babies had fallen from their nests, and reuniting with the parents did not work in their cases. Therefore, they needed to finish maturing at Cedar Run until they were fully fledged and capable of surviving on their own.

Luckily for the owlets they were both relatively healthy on intake. They had been orphaned for a few days before they were brought to our facility though, so they were dehydrated and underweight.

Each owlet was provided with fluid therapy followed by EmerAid IC Carnivore slurry. Once they were fully hydrated and their digestion was functioning normally, whole food was introduced.

When the babies were healthy, they were housed together as adopted siblings to reduce stress and imprinting. We go to great lengths to avoid imprinting these intelligent birds by providing conspecifics, foster parents if available, and covering our entire body with sheets and masks to hide our human form. The babies are also fed with a puppet that mimics a great horned owl parent.

The owlets progressed nicely throughout the summer and were finally released at the end of summer as fully healthy adults and expert hunters.