There are a few more Eastern screech owls flying around the woods near Traverse City.
Earlier this month, volunteers from North Sky Raptor Sanctuary released nine baby screech owls that had been in their care for several weeks.
Several babies are turned into the raptor center each year because people accidentally assume fledglings learning to fly have been orphaned.
"They're cavity nesters, so they will have a nest in a tree," said Marin Young, who volunteers at North Sky Raptor Sancutary. "How they learn to fly is they either get pushed out of the nest or they jump out of the nest. And the mom or the dad will be around, but the babies will be on the ground. And a lot of times, people will find them and be like, 'Oh my God, this baby owl. What do I do?'"
Well-meaning people remove them from what’s often a safe situation and bring them into places like North Sky.
Luckily, the sanctuary has a resident eastern screech owl — a foster mom named Mama Owl. Mama Owl teaches the babies how to hunt and then about 10 weeks later, North Sky releases them.
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