Autumn is the time of year when many parents find themselves facing empty nest syndrome. This syndrome is not limited exclusively to humans though. The Wildlife Center recently released a young Great Horned Owl, leaving his foster parent, Martha, facing an empty nest as well.
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| A volunteer feeds Junior while Martha watches |
For regular Internest readers, many will remember the story of Martha, our educational Great Horned Owl who adopted a young orphaned owlet in April. Young birds form their self-identity by modeling their behavior after their parents. Because a young animal can imprint on humans in a very short amount of time, it was important to introduce the orphaned youngster to an adult immediately. Without Martha to provide this model, the orphan may never have developed the abilities he needed to survive. Over the course of the summer, Martha has carefully supervised "Junior" as he grew his adult feathers, took his first flights, and caught his first mouse. As Junior moved from our nurseries into larger and larger enclosures, Martha was always just a step behind, giving him gentle encouragement to try something new.
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| Junior grew very quickly! |
In the wild, young owlets will stay with their parents through the summer, honing their hunting skills and learning valuable survival skills from their experienced parents. Once the leaves start to change and the nights get colder, parents prepare to raise the next nest of owlets and push the nearly grown owlets out on their own. Now that it is September, it is time for Junior to spread his wings and make his own way in the world.
On the day of his release, we carefully packed Junior into a carrier and transported him to land managed by the Hollow Oak Land Trust. Once we opened the door, he took off into a nearby tree. Almost immediately, some chickadees flew at him to let him know they did not like him sitting in "their" tree. Shortly after flying into another tree, blue jays let him know that that tree was occupied too, forcing him to fly to yet another tree. Eventually, the original woodland residents relaxed and gave Junior peace while he looked around to get his bearings in his new home.
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| The full grown owl takes off in a blur of feathers! |
Unfortunately, since Martha is unreleasable, she is not able to help Junior to transition to his new life away from the Center. However, we are confident that she has taught him the skills he will need to survive and that we have provided him with many opportunities to hone those skills.
Back at the Center, we are sure that Martha is adjusting well to her empty nest. Over the past few weeks, Martha became less tolerant of his bites for attention or his cries of frustration while learning to hunt. Just like parents in the wild, once she was sure Junior was old enough to be on his own, she started pushing him away from her. Now, Martha has the opportunity to relax. We are certain that in only a few more months, she will be ready to accept the next orphaned owlet.
Even though it is fall, some mammals are still having babies. Please, if you find an injured or orphaned baby, do the right thing and take it somewhere to get help immediately! If you would like to help support us as we carry out our mission to rehabilitate and release injured and orphaned wildlife, please make a secure online donation by clicking on the button below.
Empty Nest
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