The majestic snowy owl that has captivated Washington in recent days was apparently hit by a bus in downtown Washington early Thursday.
The owl was struck near 15th and I streets NW and brought by police to the National Zoo, where it was treated. The owl suffered a head injury and survived, but details of the incident remain sketchy.
The zoo said it summoned veterinarian Jessica Siegal-Willott, who examined the bird at the zoo’s hospital.
Upon arrival, the owl was alert and responsive but subdued, the zoo said. There were no obvious physical injuries, although there was blood on the bird. Blood was found in the bird’s mouth, however, which is consistent with head trauma.
The owl was given pain medication and fluids sub-cutaneously.
Wild animals such as this snowy owl are provided care and released back into the wild by a state-affiliated, or in this case a District-affiliated, animal organization, the zoo said in a statement.
The zoo said the owl was taken to City Wildlife, a D.C. wildlife rehabilitation facility.
Abby Hehmeyer, a wildlife biologist at the facility, said the owl will get X-rays in order to check for other injuries, but the goal is to release the bird as soon as possible, according to the statement.
The zoo said it believes the owl is female, based on its size and color. Females tend to be a little larger and darker than male snowy owls.
“Oh my God, don’t tell me this!” Ellen Paul, executive director of the Washington-based Ornithological Council, said when told of the incident.
“Raptors will focus like a laser at whatever prey they’re going after,” and ignore everything else, she said in a telephone interview. “I knew that bird was going to get hit.”
The owl was first sighted amid last week’s frigid weather, perched on a awning near McPherson Square, 15th and K streets.
It dazzled pedestrians and photographers with its white feathers, yellow eyes and swiveling head. It later appeared on a ledge outside The Washington Post, on L Street just west of 15th Street, drawing a day-long crowd of gawkers.
Snowy owls have been spotted this winter from Revere Beach, Mass., to Little Talbot Island State Park near Jacksonville, Fla.
According to an eBird tracker operated by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the birds have been spotted in the Great Lakes region, the Dakotas and Arkansas.
They normally live in the treeless tundra of the Arctic.
In this region, there have been sightings at Reagan National Airport, Hains Point and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
