This year spring seems to want to come early: A few days ago we received the first little owl chick (Asio otus) at our recovery centre in Mallorca. Despite having arrived weak and thin, as the days go by it is evolving well and already asks for food like anyone else.
This emblematic species inaugurates the breeding season at the recovery centre year after year and marks the beginning of a frenetic period that begins with the chicks of these beautiful nocturnal birds. In the last 5 years, we have received 217 specimens of this species and 83 were chicks that were admitted during the first half of April. This year, it was on February 22 when we received the first chick, much earlier than expected. Will the rest of the species be just as early this 2025?
It is important to remember that if we find an animal that seems to need help, we should try to call COFIB immediately and not later, since, on some occasions, we act with good intentions – but wrongly – by capturing an animal that did not need to be caught and much less kept in captivity.
We are working so that this first chicken of 2025 will soon fly over our fields!