Adorable owl found tucked inside Rockefeller Christmas tree
Was “adorable owl” on someone’s wish list this year?
If so, it seems Santa Claus may have delivered the gift a few weeks early — not wrapped with a bow, but tucked inside the iconic Christmas tree that crews erected at Rockefeller Center this week.
Workers discovered the feathered creature clinging for its life to the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce over the weekend. Soon after, Ellen Kalish, director and founder of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, NY, got a call from a stranger asking whether they accept owls for rehab.
“I said absolutely,” Kalish told The Post — in fact, they “specialize in raptors,” including owls.
The bird was discovered as crews were “unwrapping” the tree, said Kalish, who drove about a half-hour to meet the wife of one of the men who transported the tree from upstate to Midtown. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the precious bird was injured.
One thing that didn’t add up: Owls are born in the spring, so Kalish knew it couldn’t be a baby owl, known as an owlet. When the rescuer saw “that adorable face,” she immediately knew it was no newborn but an adult northern saw-whet. The birds grow to only about 5 inches tall and weigh a mere 2 to 3 ounces, and are frequently mistaken for juvenile owls.
That fact doesn’t remove its cuteness, however.
“I thought it was such a heartwarming Christmas story, that there was this secret in the Christmas tree,” said Kalish, who first shared photos of the “bright”-eyed bird on Facebook in a post that scooped up nearly 2,500 shares by Wednesday morning.
When reached for comment, representatives for Rockefeller Center told The Post, “We inspect each branch of the tree individually before it’s wrapped, but birds sometimes can find their way into it on the journey.”
The bird had gone an estimated three days without food or water before Kalish began “feeding him all the mice he will eat.”
Kalish also pointed out that the cute creature’s true sex wouldn’t be revealed until a doctor made an assessment Wednesday afternoon.
The question also remains as to why the owl would not have flown away before the tree was cut down in upstate Oneonta.
Though the bird appears healthy, said Kalish, a veterinary inspection will decide how soon Ravensbeard will be able to release their new feathered friend back into the woods, where the owl can “continue on his wild and wonderful journey.”