GHOW (great horned owl) case # 12-079 and its sibling case # 12-080 were barely 10 days old when they hit their first bump in the road of life. Both owlets fell out of their nest located in a Spruce tree in Minneapolis and landed unharmed despite falling 45 feet. Great horned owls don’t build their own nests or even remodel the old crow or hawk nests they move into, so often youngsters come out prematurely due to nest instability. High spring winds often give them an extra push. Even though great horned owl parents will raise their babies on the ground, since these two were so young and the nest located in an urban setting, TRC decided to enlist the help of Jim Mussell, a professional tree climber and long-time volunteer at TRC, to fix the nest and replace the youngsters. One owl parent observed the scene as its babies were lifted to their new “digs”.
I hope we will get an update later on whether the GHOW parents resume caring for the owlets in the repaired & repopulated nest!
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