Uncommon Owl Recovering In Our Care

An owl that's uncommon in Ohio is in rehabilitation at Lake Erie Nature & Science Center after suffering a fractured scapula, or shoulder bone. We put the Saw-whet owl in a body wrap to stabilize the shoulder and used steroids to reduce swelling. The bones of these owls heal very quickly, so the wrap was only on for a matter of days. As is always the case with patients in the Kenneth A. Scott Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Program, our goal is to release the owl back into the wild soon. The owl has already been moved into our largest flight cage and is doing well.

Saw-whet Owls are small, brown with white spots and dark streaks with intense yellow eyes and a dark beak. Although they’re not very common in Northeast Ohio, when Saw-whet Owls are found here they are almost always in evergreen trees. The name Saw-whet comes from the “skiew” sound it makes, which is thought to mimic the sound of a saw being “whetted” or sharpened. This little creature would be hard to spot in the wild since it’s entirely nocturnal, spending the day roosting in dense foliage.
-Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist Amy LeMonds