Owl partially covered in concrete is cleaned up and recovering after rescue in Utah

An owl found partially encased in concrete after entering a cement mixer in southwest Utah is expected to fly free again after being thoroughly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter.”

The great horned owl was found at Black Desert Resort in the southwest of the state and arrived at Best Friends Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days breaking up concrete with pliers and cleaning its feathers with toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers.

Two weeks later, he was able to fly again and is continuing his recovery in the aviary.

“It’s a young one, maybe that’s why it ended up in a cement mixer, and we think it’s a male because it’s smaller,” said Bart Richwalski of the animal sanctuary.

Great horned owls typically have a downy covering on their feathers that allows them to fly silently while they hunt. But the concrete frayed the rescued owl’s feathers, said Judah Battista, Best Friends sanctuary manager.

Now the bird makes a “whistling” sound when it flies, and the sanctuary will not release it into the wild until it loses its feathers and can fly silently again. That should happen next spring or summer, Battista said.

“Once our owl friend recovers, we plan to bring him back near where he was found, not to the construction site, but to a place that is a natural habitat for him, then release him and leave him alone,” Richwalski said.