2024 December 23 A Winky-Eyed Screech Owl

I always know it’s going to be interesting when I answer a call from Tim Jasinski. Tim is the Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist at Lake Erie Nature and Science Center (LENSC) and a friend of my wife and I. We have brought in multiple injured animals, and Tim has trusted us with releasing animals in our yard. 

A few springs ago, we released an orphaned baby robin. Carli picked him up and brought him home. We watched as the neighborhood robins “adopted” him and almost immediately started feeding him worms. 

Today’s call was about an injured little owl. Wes, a Maintenance Specialist at Berkshire Apartments in Lakewood called Tim because he found an injured little owl by the garage. Wes has worked with Tim in the Lights Out Cleveland campaign collecting and rescuing birds who had hit windows of Cleveland skyscrapers, so he knew who to call. 

Tim asked if we could go there and transport the owl to Bay Village. Luckily, Carli and I have emergency animal rescue procedures already in place. I grabbed the blanket, cat carrier and long-handled pool net and we headed over. There was no need for the tools though, since Wes captured the little bird in a lawn care bag. He cut a nice hole so we could see the winky-eyed Eastern Screech Owl in the bag. The owl was lively, which we’re hoping is a good sign he will survive.

When we got to LENSC, Tim took the owl out of the bag and checked her over. He thinks it’s a female because of her size, though she could be a young male. He checked the beak and there was no blood. Then he looked for signs of head trauma. No outward signs except for the winky right eye. 

We didn’t want to harm the owl, so we only got a couple of pictures.

I will update when we know more about his condition! Hoping for good news to follow up!