# Tiny owl found hiding in the Rockefeller Christmas tree isn't going home.



## RadishRose (Nov 19, 2020)

Here's why.​This season's new Christmas hero — a tiny owl stowaway that survived the long drive from upstate New York to Rockefeller Center in Manhattan on a Norway spruce — won't be taken back to his former home to be released back into the wild.

So, will he be OK?

"There's been a lot of controversy over the release site," said Ellen Kalish, director and founder of Ravensbeard Wildlife Center, a nonprofit in Saugerties, New York, where the owl, named Rockefeller after the Christmas tree where he was found, is recovering.







"[But] saw-whet owls by nature are nomadic. They basically don't have a home base unless they're raising a family, in which case they both help to feed the babies and then they're off to their solo life."






This nomadic lifestyle works in Rockefeller's favor. Rather than "stress him out" on a two-hour journey to his old home in Oneonta, New York, Kalish is planning to release him from the wildlife center into the surrounding woods this Saturday (Nov. 21). 

"It's called a soft release where we're going to put food out on the platform in case he's hungry and doesn't have a successful night of hunting," Kalish told Live Science. "We believe that he's going to go where he wants to go."

In the end, this unexpected adventure will be "just a little detour" for the nocturnal predator, she said.

https://www.livescience.com/rockefe...f-r0hS1OYipUfVlV3UvVIT_pr2abKtjm3sUpbX0u4XrrY


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## Ruth n Jersey (Nov 19, 2020)

I would worry about the release site also.  Is it near towns or a city? 
How rural was the area he came from?
How stressful could a two hour trip be? 
I'm more inclined to think he would be better off being released in the exact area he came from, then people in that area could watch his progress and give him supplemental food if needed. I'm sure their are wildlife groups in the area who would watch over him.


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## jerry old (Nov 19, 2020)

who, who


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## RadishRose (Nov 19, 2020)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> I would worry about the release site also. Is it near towns or a city?


The article said Saugerties NY. I looked up this part for you-
Part of the town is inside Catskill Park. 
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Saugerties,+New+York&atb=v231-1&ia=web


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## Meanderer (Nov 19, 2020)

Owl be Back!


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## Pepper (Nov 19, 2020)

Saugerties is right near Woodstock.  Lovely place, great music!


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## Aunt Marg (Nov 19, 2020)

jerry old said:


> who, who


No, Who's, on first.


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## Aunt Marg (Nov 19, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> Here's why.​This season's new Christmas hero — a tiny owl stowaway that survived the long drive from upstate New York to Rockefeller Center in Manhattan on a Norway spruce — won't be taken back to his former home to be released back into the wild.
> 
> So, will he be OK?
> 
> ...


What a little cutie!


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## john danson (Nov 20, 2020)

Bah ,Humbug, cutting down the poor little owl's beautiful home.


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## gennie (Nov 20, 2020)

Not fair.  He should be flown home first class with his own personal minder to insure he is returned to his own neighborhood even if someone did steal his own tree.


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