This Video of an Owl Family Saving an Orphaned Owlet Will Make Your Day
When a fallen tree left a baby owlet with no home and no family, a sweet owl family stepped up. You don’t want to miss this video’s ending.
A kind man in Maharastra, India, discovered a fallen tree and decided to investigate to make sure that no birds had been hurt. But he found exactly what he feared: A tiny owlet lay on the ground, her nest destroyed and her parents nowhere in sight. Knowing he had to act, he scooped her up and called PETA’s friends at the local animal rescue group, Animal Rahat (“rahat” means “relief”), for help.
Animal Rahat fieldworkers didn’t want the baby to be separated from her parents, so they hatched a plan: Build a birdhouse in a tree next to the one that fell and see if the parents would return.
But there was no such luck. After two days of watching for the owlet’s family, they had to figure out another solution.
The Animal Rahat team was caring for the baby owl, but being in captivity without members of her own species wasn’t an ideal situation for her. Complicating matters even further was a local superstition that owls bring bad luck. So team members came up with a novel idea.
They’d been placing birdhouses throughout the area to help local wildlife combat habitat loss, and in one of those birdhouses a couple of towns over lived a family of Asian barred owlets—the same species as the orphaned baby. The parents had two babies of their own who were about her age. Would they possibly accept this stranger as their own?
With their hearts in their throats, the team drove the owlet to the owl family’s nest. A staffer climbed a ladder, gently placed the baby in the nest, held his breath, and started recording on his phone.
He didn’t have to wait long. The two owlet siblings shuffled over to the newcomer and immediately snuggled up to her, softly chirping with excitement. Animal Rahat staff members fought back tears. There was one hurdle down and one to go. The owl parents weren’t in the nest, and team members were afraid that they wouldn’t return with a group of humans standing around. If they wanted to give this baby a chance, they had to leave.
The owl family’s nest was located near the city’s electric company, where workers were bustling in and out every day. And the workers were more than happy to check on the orphaned owlet and the owls who would hopefully become her new family. It didn’t take long for the good news to start pouring in: The parents had accepted the new little stranger just as quickly as their babies did. They were feeding her, helping her get strong and healthy, and teaching her to fly. The entire family loved the adopted baby! You can watch the entire story unfold—if you haven’t already skipped ahead to the video (wink).
Because rescuers refused to give up, this baby owl is living the way every wild animal deserves to live: free in nature with a family who loves her.
PETA encourages everyone to give a hoot and be a hero to an animal in need.
