Injured Snowy Owl Rescued And Rehabilitated In Md.

BERLIN, Md. (WJZ) --- A rescue and a recovery that took months paid off for a visitor not normally seen in Maryland. Alex Demetrick reports, a rare migration of snowy owls left one bird injured and left behind.

There's nothing wrong with her wings now, but a snow owl was injured and couldn't fly when rescued last March at Martin State Airport. Joints in the owl's wing tip were repaired by Veterinarians at the Maryland Zoo, which also took part in the bird's months of rehab.

"And we were very careful about where we were placing her because we didn't want her to bang up that wing joint or rip the pins out," Jen Kottyan with Maryland Zoo's Avain Collection said.

Snowy owls are not a common sign in Maryland. They're a lot easier to see on  YouTube.

Their normal range is far to the North in the Arctic, where they feed on rodents and small sea birds. But, every so often, their population numbers soar and they head South for food.

"It's called an irruption when they come down this far," Kottyan said. "We had a lot of them last year, but it happens every couple of decades and we're starting to see them again."

The rescued owl has been fitted with an extremely light weight tracking transmitter. A harness hidden under its feathers holds it on and cell phone towers will pick up its signal following its release on Asateague Island.

"It was just an amazing things to see," Kottyan said. "Once in a life time you get to work with a snowy owl and then to actually watch her fly away... it was great."

Follow where the snowy owl is headed.

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