Just days old, a pair of eastern screech owlets recently fell from their nest in a tree in Naples. They landed softly in the thick grass. Their eyes were not yet open.
They were no longer in the familiar comfort of the hole in a tree that provided protection and warmth. In there, the adult female would always keep them warm. The adult male would leave, but return with morsels like a mouse, or some insects, and feed pieces to them.
The owlets would compete for attention and food by clamoring, and making whatever noises they could.
“We believe the babies fell out and that the mom didn't push them out,” said Joanna Fitzgerald, director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital in Naples. “Owls are cavity nesters so our first thought was that the natural hole she nested in wasn't quite big enough, and as the babies grew and started to move around, they can tumble out too small of a hole -- it happens quite frequently as the young ones grow.”
And so started a three-day odyssey for the little screech owlets.
It’s a rather everyday tale that, however brief, could not be told in detail if not for a woman, her daughter, and the wildlife caregivers at von Arx.
The owlets were found on the grass by the woman and her daughter, who were out for an evening stroll. The pair used sticks and palm branches to form a small nest around the owlets. There was no sign of any adult birds. The hope was that, perhaps, the parent owls would discover their missing little ones overnight.
But the next morning the women found the owlets right where they left them.
When staff at the von Arx facility for wildlife received cell phone photos of the owlets, they rescued the little fuzzballs and placed them into a warmed, animal intensive care unit where their body temperatures were raised.
The screech owlets were making a racket because they were hungry, and maybe wondering where their mom was.
The owlets ate and ate. The wildlife staff found no signs of injury or trauma from their fall.
It was important to get the owlets back to the area where they were found to encourage their parents to return and resume care. But it had been at least three days. Were the parents still even looking for their young?
“We hoped the parents would come back, but were concerned with the situation because the babies had been on the ground for two nights,” Fitzgerald said. “And then they needed to stay at the hospital for another night just to make sure they were healthy and able to be renested.”
After one more meal of mouse parts, the owlets were gently put into a specialized eastern screech owl box in the tree. Night fell.
“We put the nest box in the tree closest to where they were found on the ground," Fitzgerald said. "But we never identified where the original nest was."
The hospital staff checked the nest box the following morning at dawn.
Inside was the owl’s mom. She had somehow found them overnight.
Both of her babies were tucked safely under her body.
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