Here’s a Rarity: An Injury to a Local Owl That Doesn’t Play for Temple

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A middle-school teacher from Bensalem came to the rescue of a Saw-Whet-Owl, one of the tiniest species in North America, reports Matteo Iadonisi for 6abc. 

Special education teacher Elisa Cohen sat in her classroom and heard outside “…these crows squawking, and they were relentless.” 

She wandered to the courtyard outside and saw a small owl under attack from a group of Hitchcockian birds. 

Extending the school’s no-bullying policy to campus wildlife, Cohen mustered faculty help to shoo off the predators and rescue the owl. 

“It obviously landed there for a reason,” she said. “Maybe it was fate that it knew we would take care of it.” 

They hustled the tiny creature to the Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Chalfont. There, experts identified it as a Saw-Whet-Owl.  

The National Audubon Society Field Guide describes their hoot as more of a toot. It reportedly resembles the sound of a saw being sharpened on a whetstone. Hence the name. 
 
“He’s definitely got a headache,” said Leah Stallings, the center’s Executive Director. 
 
The owl could have moderate-to-severe head trauma. It also has visible damage to its right wing and right eye. 

The overall prognosis, however, is good. The Aark staff is implementing a rehab and release plan. 

Meanwhile the Cecelia Snyder Middle School may dub the bird “Hoot,” after its own mascot. 

More on this avian advocacy is at 6abc

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