Apologies if you've already encountered the Owl Jolson Story. It's still the best story I can offer tonight

It turns out that the little owl dubbed Owl Jolson isn't a youngster but a saw-whet, a species of owl "that only grows to a height of 7 or 8 inches and to a weight of about 3 ounces."

by Ken

It turns out that I don't even have to explain why I'm offering this story, even though I'm coming late to it, of an owl-in-a-shoebox turned in at the NYC Parks Department's HQ in the Arsenal in Central Park. For once it's not only safe but gratifying to venture into the comments sections, and here's a comment that explains as well as I could why I'd rather spotlight this story tonight than, well, anything else I can think of.

It is really nice to read a story about people coming together to help a little injured living creature in need. Thank you for the wonderful story. Good luck, little owl and thank you to all the kind humans involved in the little owl's rescue and healing. May we all be as compassionate to the hurt and lost and may we all receive such compassion when we find ourselves vulnerable and unwell. Please keep us updated.

-- commenter JH of Brooklyn, responding to
Andy Newman's nytimes.com update on Owl Jolson

HERE'S THE ORIGINAL NYTIMES.COM "CITY ROOM" POST

ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE | October 12, 2012, 6:39 PM | 19 Comments

In a Shoebox, an Owl and a Mystery

By ANDY NEWMAN

Update, Oct. 15 | The owl appears to have head trauma but is recovering at a wildlife center on Long Island. Read the follow-up post. [No need to click through. You'll find the follow-up post below. -- Ed.]

A man walked into the parks department's headquarters in the Arsenal in Central Park on Friday afternoon and handed over a shoebox.

"He didn't stay, he didn't give a name," said Vickie Karp, a parks spokeswoman. "He just said, 'Here's an owl.'"

The man said the owl had flown onto his property in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, several days ago and had been sitting on the ground for a couple of days, Ms. Karp said.

The owl (see video below) was small. At first, parks workers thought it was a fledgling.

But Rob Mastrianni, an urban park ranger for the department who specializes in raptors, immediately recognized it as an adult northern saw-whet owl, a species that only grows to a height of 7 or 8 inches and to a weight of about 3 ounces. Saw-whets live in Canada and sometimes spend the winter in New York.

The owl refuses to fly, but the reason was not immediately clear, Ms. Karp said. Sometimes when saw-whets are frightened, she said, they will simply stay very still and appear very calm. The owl, dubbed Owl Jolson, has been turned over to rehabilitation experts at the Wild Bird Fund.

AND HERE'S ANDY NEWMAN'S UPDATE

(As commenter Stan G of New York points out: "You forgot the best part -- they named him Owl Jolson!")

ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE | October 15, 2012, 5:10 PM | 12 Comments

Rescued Owl Is Getting 'Cage Rest'

By ANDY NEWMAN

The grounded saw-whet owl we wrote about on Friday after it was dropped off at the parks department's headquarters in a shoe box is recovering quietly at a wildlife rehabilitation center on Long Island.

The little owl (saw-whets are among the smallest owl species, and this owl weighs three ounces) was first taken to the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side, where rehabilitators recognized signs of head trauma.

"He had a bad head bang," said Rita McMahon, the director of the bird fund. "His left eye was more closed, and the pupil was dilated. It seemed like there was a bit of swelling."

To recover, Ms. McMahon said, the owl needs some time, and a cage big enough to flap around in, so on Saturday the bird was sent to Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation in Massapequa, N.Y.

There, Bobby Horvath, who has worked with many injured New York City raptors, reported Monday afternoon that the owl was spending a lot of time "just kind of hunkered down," though he added, "It becomes alert when we open the cage to drop food in."

One of the owl's wings is a bit droopy, Mr. Horvath said, but X-rays showed no broken bones, so the prognosis for full recovery and release (in Brooklyn, where the owl was found) remains good.

"It's just nutrition, cage rest, and we've got him on pain medication and an anti-inflammatory," Mr. Horvath said. "For now, you just keep it dark, quiet and as calm as possible."

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