A couple of months back during August, a concerned Pennsylvania landowner contacted the National Park Service (NPS), Upper Delaware to report that an owl was on the ground in his yard and had been there for several hours. NPS biologists Jaime Myers and Jessica Newbern went out to meet the property owner, and found a great horned owl with an apparent injury to its right foot. They captured the owl and turned it over to the Delaware Valley Raptor Center (DVRC).

Bill Streeter, director of the DVRC, examined the owl, a female, and found it to be emaciated at a weight of 45 oz. (about half the weight of a full grown female). It also favored its right foot and had that foot closed. An X-ray of the leg revealed no fractures. After two days at the DVRC, the owl opened its foot, but still walked with a limp.

A great horned owl is perhaps one of the most aggressive raptors in the wild. They have been known to raid bald eagle nests and tangle with prey such as porcupines and skunks. It is difficult to assess for sure how this female owl came to be injured, but there is a strong chance that this was a hunting injury. With the X-ray showing no fracture, there was a reasonable chance of this owl being rehabilitated enough to be released back into the wild. This owl would have to regain strength and mobility in its right foot, enough to perch on tree limbs and grab prey, as well as overall muscle mass from being emaciated, before it could be released and be able to survive in the wild.

October 17 dawned bright and sunny, and it was the female great horned owl’s big day. Its foot had healed enough and it regained mass and flight ability to the extent where it could be returned to the wild, so it was taken by Bill Streeter to near where it was rescued. Some folks from the NPS were waiting for us, and Jaime Meyers did the “toss” (where the bird is actually released). It flew straight and true with silent wing thrusts to the top of a tall oak tree near the river. The great horned owl perched for a few moments as she got her bearings, then flew off downstream with some nearby crows announcing her freedom flight.