Owl survives after spending night with head stuck in car grille

A tawny owl has made a miraculous recovery after getting its head stuck in the grille of a car overnight.

The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary in Stonham is no stranger to seriously injured owls being brought to the center after being hit by cars.

However, Dolly Cook, the sanctuary’s animal and bird trainer, was surprised when a vacationing couple brought in a tawny owl stuck in the grille of their car.

Ms Cook said: “The couple saw the owl flying down the road but did not feel any impact so thought the owl was fine.

“The theory is that he must have flown straight into the grille of the car and got his head stuck.

“He spent the night hanging from the car like this until the couple found him the next morning and brought him to our house.

“We deal with a lot of owls injured in road accidents, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. It is very unusual that the owl survived.

The tawny owl had suffered severe bruising and swelling around its head during the incident and was initially kept in the peace and quiet of the Raptor Hospital on site.

But after a few days, the hospital staff managed to treat him and he should soon be released into the wild.

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Ms Cook added: “He is now outside in the aviary, hopping and eating, so his eyesight seems good.

“The swelling has gone down and he is doing very well.

“We plan to release it in the next few days near Laxfield, but away from the road.”

Ms Cook is calling for people who rescue injured birds to be asked to take them to a professional sanctuary where they can be better cared for than by people caring for them in their own homes.