How You Can Help Raptor Babies

Great horned owls are the earliest nesting raptor species in MN, laying their eggs in old crow or hawk nests as early as the end of January. When owlets hatch and grow to about 2-3 weeks of age, the poor nest quality and high spring winds cause many youngsters to topple out.

How can you help?
1) If you find a baby/young raptor, please call TRC BEFORE intervening. It is often assumed that if a parent can’t be seen, the youngster has been abandoned. The adults are often close by keeping an eye on their kids, but are often well concealed from human eyes.

2)If you know of an active raptor nest, please let us know. If we do receive a youngster that is in need of a new raptor family, the more nests we are aware of, the better chance for a successful adoption.

Please help us provide Minnesota raptor babies with their best chance of survival by keeping them wild.

The Raptor Center's website has more information on how to help an injured raptor.  We post our clinic patient census numbers so you can see what species are in our clinic.