Two batches of Barn Owls and eggs, from two loads of hay, and two more young Great Horned Owls were admitted this past week. As soon as we receive negative avian influenza test results for the Great Horned Owls, they will go to our Great Horned Owl hack site in preparation for release.

The Barn Owls will be go out to one of our flight pens that has been converted to a Barn Owl hack site once they are eating whole mice in about a month. Four are pictured below.

Bald Eagle 25-069 was found near Enterprise unable to fly, likely struck by a vehicle. She was bruised and dehydrated, but we saw no fractures on her x-rays. We did find a brood patch, indicating she was either incubating eggs or nestlings. She is responding well to supportive care. Assuming her avian influenza test is negative, we will move her out to a flight pen next week and see how she flys after being rehydrated. We hope to return her to her family ASAP.

Two adult owls were admitted with right wing fractures that could not be repaired. Radiographs of Great Horned Owl 25-067 and Barn Owl 25-068 are below.

A newly hatched Barn Owl…

The Great Horned Owlets are growing like weeds, or more accurately, like baby birds. GHOW 25-045 weighed 309 g on admission 13 days ago and now weighs 570 g today, 4/13. GHOW 25-046 weighed 365 g on admission and now weighs 598 g. Their adult weights will be somewhere around 1000 g, depending on if they are male or female. Time will tell! It is hard to see, but there is a hint of green marker on 25-046 who is on the right below.

We are enjoying the slow days as we prepare for baby season to arrive in full force. Last night Tricia captured this photo of the full moon.

This morning she caught Daryl enjoying the sunshine.

March 31 was the official start of the 2025 Baby Season with the admission of two nestling Great Horned Owls, GHOW 25-0045 and GHOW 25-046, who fell from a nest on a farm northeast of Pendleton. The nest was too high to safely access. The owlets will be raised using a method called hacking which simulates the care provided by the parents. As is typical of young raptors, the nestlings are different sizes. 

Great Horned Owls usually lay 3 or 4 eggs with 2 or 3 days between each egg. They start incubating the eggs as soon as the first one is laid, so it is the first egg to hatch.  Owlet 25-045 (aka Blank) weighed 309 grams on admission. Owlet 25-046 (aka Green) weighed 365 grams.

Six days later on 4/6/25 Blank weighed 570 g and Green weighed 598 g. Both have hearty appetites and are eating whole mice on their own!

Radiographs of young birds or mammals can be challenging to evaluate because the bones have not fully developed, especially at the joints. Below are the initial x-rays of Blank and Green respectively. Both birds appear to be uninjured. We will take followup x-rays before they go to the hack site, just to make sure we don’t miss an injury.

Tricia and intern Clare traveled east to Elgin and Lostine and released American Kestrel 25-017 and Western Screech Owl 25-029.

The kestrel had been found with its left wing caught in a fence, bruised but not broken!

The owl had a fractured right ulna. Both birds seemed happy to be back home!

We had another week of badly injured birds, but Intern Clare took fun photos of visitors and Tricia captured cloud formations just prior to our epic thunderstorm.

American Robin 25-039 had a shattered humerus after being attacked by a cat.

Black-headed Grosbeak 25-040 also had a fractured humerus, likely the result of being struck by a vehicle. 

Future ornithologist Joe with his father David enjoyed meeting the education birds, especially Turkey Vulture Daryl and Peregrine Falcon Iris.

Annalise and Mary also came to visit

It is with great sadness that I share the news of the loss of Great Horned Owl Sage, long-time member of Blue Mountain Wildlife’s Education Team. I will let intern Clare share her thoughts with you…

“My heart goes out to Blue Mountain Wildlife, and in particular Tricia, on their loss of Sage. They have had Sage since he arrived as a nestling in 1994. For the past two-and-a-half weeks, I had watched Sage take a mouse from Tricia and then give it back to her before he was rewarded with two more mice for dinner. Their bond was a wonder to observe.” 

Below is a photo of Sage by photographer Dirk Hummer…

Owl Releases

We were fortunate to be able to release two owls this past week. Western Screech Owl 25-009 was found at the South Baker Intermediate School in Baker City, Oregon. He had a head injury likely the result of striking a window. A few snowflakes did not dampen the students excitement as they watched the owl’s release.

We traveled a short distance from the school to release Barn Owl 25-024 who had recovered from a dislocated shoulder. He headed straight to “his” grove of trees after intern Clare opened the door to the travel box.

While collision with a vehicle is the most common cause of injury to the birds admitted to BMW, this past week the two new admissions were both gunshot victims. Neither could be rehabilitated.

Sharp-shinned Hawk 25-036 had multiple injuries caused by an air rifle pellet.

Great Horned Owl 25-037 had a broken wing and a broken leg. From the fragmentation visible in the x-ray below, we know that the projectile was lead. Non-lead ammunition does not fragment when it strikes it’s target. The owl also had a blood lead level of 12.9 micrograms/deciliter, indicating some of the prey it had eaten had been shot with lead ammunition.

I will close by sharing a few more words and a photo from Clare…

“There is a kindness in what we do here. We accept death as a part of life and don’t allow suffering in its inevitability. The hard part is dealing with what our fellow humans do. Some shoot at birds. They shoot with lead pellets which can cause lead poisoning in predators who may consume the birds. That is true cruelness.”