Twilight Flight: The Story of Barn Owl 25-122
On a lovely evening in late March, with a light breeze ruffling the green grass on the slope above Corbett Canyon Road, conditions could not have been better for the release of Barn Owl 25-122.
The male Barn Owl was brought to us in February. He had been found in a puddle at the side of Corbett Canyon Road, just south of San Luis Obispo. The possible victim of a car strike, he had evidence of trauma to his right eye but fortunately had no other injuries except several broken feathers. After care at the PWC clinic and observation to see that the eye trauma had resolved, he was deemed ready for exercise with the creance team. Creance is a technique borrowed from falconry that involves exercising a bird on a long thin line. He flew beautifully right from the start, and the team was hopeful for an early release. Rehabilitation of wild animals is always a race against time, because the longer they are in captivity, the more likely they will develop injuries or succumb to the stress of noise and handling. Owls and other raptors can also develop sores on their feet from long perching, so an early release once the bird is assessed for flight ability is the best outcome.
However, before 25-122 could be released, his broken feathers needed to be repaired, through a process known as imping—an ancient technique used by falconers that has been adapted by modern wildlife rehabilitators. Imping involves the implantation of donor feathers to replace the bird’s damaged ones. It allows the rehabilitated bird to regain its full flight ability without waiting until the bird molts and replaces the feathers naturally. PWC’s veterinarian imped four tail feathers and two wing feathers on the Barn Owl, and he was cleared for release.
The sun was low when we arrived, illuminating nearby trees where we hoped the Barn Owl would head, away from the road below. The carrier was opened, and a white heart-shaped face appeared for a second, looking out with dark eyes on a world without perches or screens. Then the owl pushed off, unfolded those extraordinarily long, pale wings, flapped a few times and banked right, straight toward the grove of trees. He circled behind the front line of trees and was gone. The sun was just sinking behind the folded hills of Corbett Canyon as we walked back to the car with the empty carrier, happy to see the Barn Owl back home and flying free again.
