Five young Western Screech Owls have been in a hack box for more than a week. The door will be opened tonight, Sunday, to allow them to fledge. Mice will be placed on top of the box until the owls are self-sufficient.

Fourteen Barn Owls are self-feeding and graduated to hack boxes in a large flight pen. It will be two or three weeks before the door to the pen is opened and the nightly Barn Owl show begins.

Great Horned Owl 26-053 has also graduated to a hack box. Although he is alone in the box, a family of Great Horned Owls also live at the site. The youngster will have a foster family when he fledges. We will place extra food on the feeding platform when that time comes, as the foster family will quickly figure out there is a new food source. Who doesn’t like a fast-food meal on occasion!

Swainson’s Hawk 26-084 was found on the ground under a wind turbine. We suspect the hawk was disoriented by the turbulence of the turbine blades and then hit the ground, fracturing two ribs and injuring his shoulder. We are hoping he will heal with anti-inflammatories and cage rest. He is eating well and quite feisty!

Sharp-shinned Hawk 26-088 was found near Joseph, unable to fly. Our exam found fractures of the right humerus and femur that could not be repaired.

Young American Robin 26-061 was also moved into a larger cage. He is not quite self-feeding, but is becoming more indignant at the presence of humans. It won’t be long before he will be moved outside to the songbird pen.

And speaking of grumpy, resident Turkey Vultures Daryl and Darrel have laid two eggs and are very protective of their nest. Both of the birds are female, so the eggs are not fertile.