“All of a sudden, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a really special bird.'”
Dog Walk Leads to Heartwarming Owl Rescue and Reunion
During a recent walk with her dogs, Cali Alexander encountered an unexpected surprise. Her dogs began barking at what she initially mistook for a tuft of fluff on the ground. Curious, she looked closer—only to realize it was a baby great horned owl.
“It suddenly hit me—I was looking at a really extraordinary bird,” Alexander told The Dodo.
At first, she hesitated to intervene, thinking the young owl might have simply landed during a training flight and could take off again soon. But after more than a day passed with the owlet still grounded, Alexander realized the bird was likely in trouble—possibly blown out of its nest by strong winds—and unlikely to survive alone.
Wanting to help but unsure how, she contacted a local bird rehabilitation expert. Rather than taking the owl in, the rehabber suggested a more natural approach: reuniting the chick with its parents by creating a makeshift nest.
Following their guidance, Alexander filled a laundry basket with pine needles and secured it high in a tree close to where the owlet had fallen. This would allow the parents to locate and care for their chick again.
“The rehabber explained that the parents would find it and continue to feed it,” Alexander said.
After placing the owlet in the new nest, she and her father set up a trail camera to monitor the site. Not long after, while watching the live feed, Alexander witnessed something amazing—the parent owls had returned and were feeding their baby.
Relieved and overjoyed, she watched as the family reunited and the young bird regained its strength. In time, the owlet grew strong enough to leave the nest on its own.
Reflecting on the experience, Alexander said, “It was incredibly special to be involved in something like that.”