Rescuers turn basket into new nest for owl parents whose chicks had a great fall

A baby great horned owl that took a topple from a broken nest is back up in its tree with mom and dad thanks to rescuers who replaced that shoddy first nest with a repurposed basket.

Headingley homeowners sprang into action when they noticed the owlet at the base of a tree in their yard this spring.

They called the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre, and animal care co-ordinator Tiffany Liu came by to check out the young bird of prey's predicament.

Liu said she could see a large hole in the bottom of the nest up in the tree. That suggested the nest caved in on itself and the parents' pair of owlets fell to the ground. Only one survived.

The parents were still trying to tend to the surviving chick on the ground before Lui was called in, but during the day they would take cover because owls are nocturnal. That left the vulnerable owlet alone and exposed to predators.

The parents didn't abandon their young — that was a good sign — but the owlet, only a few weeks old, was in a precarious spot, Lui said.

"We knew just from the fluffiness of it that it needs to be in a nest, it needs to be with the mother," Lui told Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Friday.

The group decided to try to rebuild the nest and plop the fluffball back in.

They repurposed a basket, filled it with leaves and twigs, and Lui gently put the owlet in.

An arborist who lives in the neighbourhood hoisted the new nest into the tree to replace the old one and the group crossed their fingers. They didn't know whether the parents, who spied on Lui and the rest from a tree one yard over, would take to their new digs.

Happily, things worked out, Lui said.

"The mother went right to it, and then the next morning the mother was still with it, so she took to the nest and she was staying with the baby, keeping it warm," said Lui, adding it was perfect timing because it rained the next day.

The baby has grown since then. Lui said she's received updates from the homeowners, who say its feathers are growing in place of the fluff. The mother is even starting to coax the maturing owl into flexing its wings and exploring the rest of the tree, Lui said.

"It's learning to fly," she said.

This case serves as an important reminder for people who come across baby birds on the ground, Lui said.

It's important not to intervene immediately because that can be disruptive. As a rule, it's best to just contact the Wildlife Haven if you come across a really young chick or animal you think may be in distress, and await instructions, said Lui.

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