Little owl recovering after mate died defending it from magpies

Jake Kenny Reporter from Community News

A little owl recovering in North Canterbury after being attacked by magpies has lost its mate after it died trying to defend her.

Scott Bowman, of Oxford Bird Rescue, said the owl, named Hermione, was found on the ground in Ashburton in a bad condition and taken to Vetlife Ashburton.

“It appears that she had been attacked by magpies and sadly her mate was killed defending her,’’ he said.

“They gave us a call after doing the initial assessment and discovering a bit of a surprise in the x-ray, a huge egg.’’

The owl was stabilised and transferred to Vetlife Oxford where it was treated for concussion injuries.

Its head was so swollen it could not open its eyes, and for the next few days it was hand-fed and given medication and pain relief.

The swelling went down, however it became apparent the egg was stuck and it would not be laying, so it was taken back to Vetlife and the egg was removed under anaesthesia.

Bowman said the procedure was quite an ordeal but Hermione was recovering well.

“It’s going to take some time to see if the egg is still viable, but we are incubating it for her just in case.’’

But with no idea how long it had been stuck the chances of it developing were slim, he said.

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