Sequoia is a resident great horned owl at Ravensbeard. One might say a great horned owl is an owl’s owl. It is how you would picture an owl to look like with its prominent “ear” tufts and its characteristic hoots.
Over six years ago. Ravensbeard received a phone call from the Lazy Swan Golf Course in Saugerties about a couple of baby owls on the ground. When Ellen got there, one sibling was dead, but the other was alive with sustained injuries. They fell from their nest, from about 60 feet up in the pine tree nearby, most likely from the nest being raided. Their parents were nowhere in sight.
The surviving owlet was taken to the veterinarian the next day and diagnosed with a broken wrist and elbow. She would never be able to fly. At that point, a decision was made to rehab the owl, keep and raise her as an educational bird. She was given the name Sequoia.
Today, Sequoia still recognizes Ellen as her mother. She perks up whenever she sees Ellen and emits her baby cry. She hisses at most people, except for Mali Waltking, a student volunteer. Mali had somehow made a connection with Sequoia and the two traded calls back and forth on their first meeting to Ellen’s amazement.
As an educational bird, Sequoia was never comfortable. Because of her injuries, she felt out of balance, which made her nervous. When she was held, she tried to fly away often, but the jesses, a kind of leash secured to her legs, would prevent it and she would end up hanging upside down. For these reasons, Sequoia “retired” from doing demonstrations. Last year, she acted as a surrogate mom and helped raise a baby owlet.
This year, we took in another injured great horned owl. He was at an intersection in Red Hook with an apparent broken wing. Many people saw the poor thing as they drove by, but a few days went by before someone finally called to report it. By then the compound fracture became necrotic and was not repairable. That is why if you see a bird in trouble, you need to act right away. Every minute counts. Yogi, as some are calling him, is currently sharing an enclosure with Sequoia.
In recent years, the number of great horned owls have been declining in the area. In a very rare occurrence, we took in two pairs of great horned owlets during this year’s breeding season, having fallen out of their nests. They went through their molting process, shedding their downy baby feathers and growing in their adult plumage. They spent their last few weeks in the aviary healthy, flying and finally learning how to hunt live prey. All four were released in the evening of August 12th, 2025, disappearing into the woods behind Ravensbeard to go and establish their own territory. We wish them all a full life.