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“Extremely Obese” Owl Rescued in England Becomes Too Fat To Fly

Alexis Zarycki January 30th, 2020

He may be chubby, but at least he looks really happy. 

This story was happy and sad all at the same time. A chunky owl was taken in by a sanctuary in England and people at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary thought the bird was injured. Well, turns out he was just fine…just a bit overweight. (I feel you Hootie)

The female owl was a third heavier than her average counterparts. They called her “extremely obese.” She was unable to fly because she had eaten too much. After a few weeks of slimming down under observation, the sanctuary released the owl back into the wild on Monday. Good for you girl on losing that weight.

This soggy little owl was found in a ditch. Usually in these instances we assume injury that is preventing the owl from flying - occasionally becoming wet causes them to become grounded too - so you can imagine our surprise that when we examined her, we found her to simply be extremely obese! Upon weighing her, she was a rather chunky 245g (which is roughly a third heaver than a large healthy female little owl) and she was unable to fly effectively due to the fatty deposits. This is unusual for wild birds to get into this condition, so we needed to investigate some obvious scenarios - the first being that she was possibly an escaped aviary bird. Sadly there was no indication of rings or chip identification. We decided to observe the bird over a period of weeks for signs of a life in captivity. Familiarity with foods used in aviaries such as bright yellow chicks (which won't often be found naturally in the English countryside) are a telltale sign. Luckily, there were no giveaway signs as she was readily taking more wild food types such as dark mice, so we are confident this may just be an unusual case of natural obesity! We also found that the area where she was rescued was crawling with field mice and voles due to the warm and wet winter we experienced in December. She has since spent a few weeks with us under observation and been placed on a strict diet. We can now happily say she has trimmed down to a more natural weight for release. . . . . . #suffolkowlsanctuary #owlsanctuary #animalsanctuary #suffolkwildlife #owl #buzzard #eagle #hawk #kestrel #meerkat #redsquirrel #conservation #wildlifeconservation #wildliferescue #animalrescue #birdsofprey #animalrehabilitation #suffolk #falconry

499 Likes, 22 Comments - Suffolk Owl Sanctuary (@suffolkowls) on Instagram: "This soggy little owl was found in a ditch. Usually in these instances we assume injury that is..."

Alexis Zarycki is your average girl with the hopes of leaving an everlasting impact on the world. Follow her on Instagram @official_lexpaige
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