A baby barred owl that fell out of its nest in Roberts Creek is now being cared for by the Gibsons Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (GWRC).
The young male owl, named Creeker by the couple that found him, isn’t hurt but he’s too young to fly and his mother isn’t capable of getting him back into the nest perched high up in a tree.
“The mother may come down and feed him, but it’s not like a mammal where they would come and pick him up by the scruff of the neck and take him back like a raccoon or a rat or something,” said Irene Davy of the GWRC.
“He would have to stay on the forest floor and then he’s subject to other predators.”
Irene and her husband Clint are now caring for Creeker at the GWRC, hand feeding him and enjoying his cute company, but in a couple of weeks they’ll have to send him to Orphaned Wildlife in Delta.
“We can’t raise him to maturity because we don’t have a large enough flight cage. We’re not set up for keeping large birds of prey for any length of time. So we’ll send him over to Orphaned Wildlife and they will keep him for a little bit,” Irene said.
“But he will be returned here when he’s ready to be released … It will probably be at least two months before he comes back.”
Creeker will be released in the same area he was found, near Day Road, off Lockyer Road in Roberts Creek.
For now though, the Davys are enjoying the fluffy little owl that is just starting to develop proper flying feathers.
“He’s just so fluffy and cute,” Irene noted.
Also at the GWRC in the care of Clint and Irene are baby sparrows, goslings, jaybirds, mallard ducks, crows, doves and pigeons.
The nesting season for most birds is now upon us and Clint and Irene remind people to abstain from cutting bushes or trees where birds might be nesting until after July when baby birds are able to fly away.
Irene also reminds people to keep their cats indoors during nesting season.
“When the babies are learning to fly, that is when they get predated on by cats because they can’t escape, and so we advise people to keep their cats indoors, not only for their own safety but for the safety of the wildlife,” Irene said.
Find out more about the GWRC, which relies entirely on donations to continue helping injured and orphaned wildlife on the Coast, at www.gibsonswildliferehabcentre.org
