A new member of the nature center family arrived via cardboard box and was released at dusk to fly off into the trees and establish his new home.  The screech owl is one of the smallest owls.  Its call can sound like the whinny of a horse or a deep trill.   Like other owls, they eat primarily birds and small mammals.   They live mostly in wooded areas and nest in tree cavities.    This screech owl has only one working eye.  It had been hit by a car and suffered damage to both his eye and ear on the left side of his head.

This particular screech owl came to us courtesy of Arlene Pearce and her rehabilitation work with wild birds.  Some have been hit by cars, found abandoned in their nests, attacked by family pets or even electrocuted from outdated electrical wiring.  Most come to the center thanks to concerned citizens such as yourselves.  Since 1999, she has mended countless wings, hand-fed fledglings and even raises mealworms to feed her patients.  Working closely with local Texas Parks and Wildlife rangers, veterinarians and local ranchers, she treats and releases over 100 birds each year.   In 2013, she rehabilitated and released 20 screech owls like ours.

Stay tuned as we will be releasing another screech owl when the girl scouts visit next month.  We are looking forward to making Arlene and Richard’s rehabilitation work an on-going part of the nature center activities.