Release

On July 21, 2020, the rescue line received a call from Wolcottville, IN about an owl caught in a barbed wire fence. Rescuer Louie Lee picked the bird up and brought it to ICU. Luckily, he had no broken bones, but the soft tissue on his wing was very red and swollen. He spent several months with us, but was fully recovered in December and, on December 19, volunteer Kristen Werling released him near where he was found. The original finders were concerned about the owl eating their chickens and did not want to be present at the release nor did they want him released on their property. The owl...Read more

On the night of November 18th, 2020, Jeanne found an Eastern Screech Owl lying on the ground below her window. We were contacted and volunteer Louie Lee went to rescue the bird the next morning. Upon his arrival, Jeanne had the owl contained in a cardboard box. The more Louie disturbed the bird, the more active it became. Louie transported the little guy to our ICU where (hooray!) no injuries were found. We kept him for a few days in one of our rehab enclosures, where he had the company of another screech owl that was brought in the same day, with similar symptoms. After we were sure he could...Read more

On October 6, 2020, the hawkphone received a call from the South Bend Animal Shelter about a barred owl. Volunteer Gary Carlson took the bird to our treatment facility, where it appeared to have diminished vision in both eyes. After a week, he started to find food on his own in his enclosure, so he was moved to our rehabilitation facility and after he acclimated he was moved to our flight pen, where he showed us he could find food on his own. On October 30, Bill Oberg brought this little owl back to South Bend, where Gary released him close to where he was found.Read more

On September 24, 2020, the rescue line received a call from Mike in Churubusco. He had found a screech owl in the middle of a road and appeared dazed. They indicated he flew a little bit but came right back down and they were able to go pick him up. An exam showed a small abrasion in its left eye, which we treated with medication for pain and an antibiotic.Read more

On September 16, 2020, three great horned owl youngsters were released back to the wild in South Whitley, IN. The three came to us as babies, and grew up together. All flew high and away. It was a beautiful sight!Read more

On August 19, Soarin’ Hawk received a call from Amy at Black Pines Sanctuary in Albion about a red tailed hawk that had been brought to the sanctuary by a gentleman who had found it on the side of the road. Black Pine was getting ready to close for the day, but Amy kindly consented to wait until our rescuer got there to pick up the bird. When volunteer Vanessa got there to pick up the hawk, Amy commented she was more alert than an hour and half before. We were able to transfer from one carrier to another without incident; she did seem to favor her left leg and would not stand on it. Vanessa...Read more

Received a call to retrieve a Great Horned Owl in a yard. When we arrived the bird had been confined under a box. When we removed the box ever so carefully, the owl escaped and started to run towards a four lane highway. We looked like the keystone cops running after him to turn him around. He finally turned around and ran back under our car. We chased him out from there and he ran out into the field again. We used the caller to help surround him. John, our caller was able to throw a towel over him and that allowed me to go grab him. We finally were able to put him in a box. Prior to us...Read more