Rock-tree owl nears a return to the wild
The celebrity owl that hitched a ride to New York City in the branches of an upstate Christmas tree is almost ready to fly the coop.
Rockefeller, named for the famed Midtown plaza that is the annual home of the iconic colorful tree, is being nursed back to health after workers found the owl Monday while unwrapping the 72-foot Norway spruce.
The adult male Saw-whet owl was taken to the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in the Hudson Valley, where it has been dining on mice in preparation for a planned Saturday return to the wild, preservationists said.
“I just want to make sure he’s well-fed before he goes,” wildlife center director Ellen Kalish told the Kingston Daily Freeman.
“He was a little on the thin side when he came in. He probably hadn’t eaten in a number of days. So I just want to make sure that he’s at his best weight and health, and then he goes.”
The bird had gone an estimated three days without food or water.
Kalish said the owl is in “great condition” with no bone fractures apparent in an X-ray. She said she plans to release the owl from the center’s Ulster County location in Saugerties.
The owl is the smallest of its kind in the Northeast.
The tree will be lit in a televised ceremony Dec. 2, but unlike years past, no live spectators will be admitted to Rockefeller Center when the switch is flipped.