From Concrete to the Sky: Great Horned Owl Gets Wings Back

When a great horned owl got stuck in a concrete mixer back in October, his flying days seemed over. But thanks to an unconventional rescue effort and a procedure most wildlife teams had never attempted, this bird is soaring free again.

A good Samaritan discovered the owl trapped in concrete near St. George, Utah, and reached out to Best Friends Animal Society’s Wild Friends refuge in Kanab, about 80 miles away. Once the team removed the dried concrete, they realized the damage went deeper than surface level—the owl’s feathers were too compromised for silent flight, which is essential for hunting and survival in the wild.

Here’s where things get interesting. The Wild Friends team knew the owl should naturally shed and regrow those damaged feathers during spring molt. They waited. And waited. When the molt didn’t come through as expected, Supervisor Bart Richwalski and his team made a bold decision: they’d learn and perform imping, a specialized feather-replacement procedure that’s uncommon in most wildlife rehabilitation centers. They found donor feathers from another great horned owl that had passed away at a Northern Utah wildlife rescue, and trained themselves in the delicate surgical technique.

On May 1, Richwalski, Best Friends veterinarian Kelsey Paras, and two other Wild Friends team members spent 90 minutes under anesthesia working to restore the owl’s flight capability. Eleven feathers on the right wing were replaced using adhesive and precision placement—a nerve-wracking process that grew smoother as the team found their rhythm. The left wing required no replacements.

The real test came next. After weeks of flight conditioning in the Wild Friends aviary, the team used a decibel reader to confirm the owl’s wingbeats were quiet enough for safe release into the wild. When the aviary roof retracted and the owl lifted off, Richwalski’s heart finally returned to normal rhythm.“I don’t know that my heart was beating until I saw him leave,”he said.“I was beside myself, knowing that after all this time, he was healthy and back in the wild.”

What makes this story resonate isn’t just the rescue—it’s the commitment. A team learned a new surgical skill. A wildlife facility used resources and expertise to save one animal. And a bird that should’ve been lost to a freak accident is now hunting silently in Utah’s wilderness again. Best Friends Animal Society Chief Sanctuary Officer Judah Battista summed it up perfectly:“Every animal has intrinsic value,”and this owl’s journey proved that philosophy isn’t just words.