A barn owl, like the one pictured above, was found yesterday at lunch and was sent to the Wildlife Care Center.

– Creative Commons

A barn owl was recovered on campus yesterday by a construction worker and sent to the Wildlife Care Center, according to Carol Barrettsmith, a Palo Alto High School principal’s secretary substitute.  

The construction worker who brought in the owl claimed that the bird looked injured, according to Barrettsmith.

“He [the construction worker] thought there was something wrong with its leg,” Barrettsmith said. 

The administration called Wildlife Care Center to take care of the owl, but the Wildlife Care Center staff encountered issues as the bird began flying away, according to Barrettsmith.

“We called Wildlife Rescue [Wildlife Care Center],” Barrettsmith said. “They came and went over to check the owl, who had been lying very still in the box, and all of a sudden, it flew up and seemed to really have some life in him. The man from Wildlife Rescue threw his jacket over the owl so he could catch him, put him back in the box, and took him there.” 

Wildlife Care Center has not yet contacted the administration about the owl’s status, but Barrettsmith plans on checking on the bird soon. 

“Hopefully the owl will be okay,” Barrettsmith said. “We were going to call them later this [Wednesday] afternoon to see how he was.”