Baby great horned owl rescued after getting kicked out of its nest, twice

A baby great horned owl and the snow kept the Animal Rescue League busy on Sunday and Monday.

The rescue league got a call on Sunday that a baby owl was at the foot of a tree in the Arnold Arboretum. State wildlife officials told the league that if it wasn’t possible to get the baby bird into its nest, the mother owl would care for the baby if it was put into a fake nest nearby, Mike Brammer, assistant manager of animal rescue services at the league, told Boston.com.

A passerby provided a laundry basket and a towel to create the fake nest, which was placed in a tree with the baby owl near the real nest.

Baby great horned owl on ground @ArnoldArboretum. Could not get to nest, so put into a faux nest in the tree on Sun. pic.twitter.com/TOL83KRfGk

— Animal Rescue League (@ARLBostonRescue) April 5, 2016

But on Monday, with concerns about the snow moving in, wildlife officials advised the rescue league that the mother owl would not be able to keep the baby warm in the fake nest.

“It was snowing pretty good when we got to the arboretum,” Brammer said of when he and senior rescue technician Danielle Genter returned, stopping to rescue some kittens along the way.

In the @ArnoldArboretum yesterday putting the baby great horned owl back into the nest. Not a good day for it. pic.twitter.com/GlEdLR9skq

— Animal Rescue League (@ARLBostonRescue) April 5, 2016

With the help of arboretum staff and a bucket truck, the baby owl was returned to its nest where its two siblings were waiting.

“Everybody was happy and they came back down,” Brammer said.

The team was packing up and ready to leave when someone came by and told them they’d seen a baby bird on the ground. The baby owl had fallen, or been kicked out, again.

Sucess! The baby owl returned to the nest to be with it’s 2 siblings. Mom was watching from nearby. @ArnoldArboretum pic.twitter.com/5mq15N2y0k

— Animal Rescue League (@ARLBostonRescue) April 5, 2016

“It was a very small nest,” Brammer said. “We’re assuming at this point that the siblings kicked it back out.”

Since the owl had been fallen out twice already, the rescuers decided it would be best to take it to rehabilitation center to be looked after. The owl was taken to the Blue Hills Trailside Museum where it will stay until it is old enough to be released.