Owl rescued from Highway 101 released back into wild

A barn owl rescued by CHP officers earlier this year after being hit by a speeding car on Highway 101 was released back into the wild Monday night.

The approximately 2-year-old bird, which suffered a fractured chest bone, was given a clean bill of health from the Santa Rosa-based Bird Rescue Center.

Volunteer Brad Marsh released it in southwest Santa Rosa, not far from where it was found, but not too close to the freeway. It was set free after dark so it wouldn’t become prey for the larger great horned owl.

Marsh said it flew “right back into its habitat.”

“He had a long couple of months, but he’s back out there now,” Marsh said Tuesday.

In May, the bird was hit after it flew too close to the freeway near Todd Road. Officers scooped it up from the center divider and rushed it to a veterinary hospital.

It was treated over the past month at the rescue center off Chanate Road, where it received a “wing wrap” and had its coracoid bone realigned. Two weeks ago, it was transferred to WildCare in Olema, where it practiced flying in an open aviary, Marsh said.

“He’s a very strong flier,” he said.

The owl is one of about 3,000 birds treated by the center each year. Up to ?250 of the birds are raptors, Marsh said.

Barn owls are important to area farmers and vintners because they eat rodents, he said. One owl can catch up to 15 mice a night to feed its family.

“They are very effective hunters,” Marsh said.

In addition to great horned owls, which prey on smaller birds, speeding cars pose the greatest risk to barn owls, Marsh said.

Owls hunt at dusk and often get hit as they dive for prey, he said.

“Seventy percent of our owls get struck by vehicles,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.