CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio (WCMH) — A baby owl blown out of its nest by high winds now has a new family after being renested by a central Ohio bird group. When a windstorm destroyed the nest of a 1-week-old great horned owl, a Licking County homeowner found it on the ground. The resident contacted Ohio Wildlife Officer Antoinette Freet, who then alerted the Ohio Bird Sanctuary in Mansfield about the animal. The tiny raptor was subsequently evaluated by the animal care team at the wildlife rehabilitation organization dedicated to birds. “With just very little support, it perked right up,” said Julie Schwartz, the executive director of the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. “Our veterinarian that we work with confirmed the X-rays looked good, no head injuries or anything like that, no broken bones. So then we had to embark on figuring out how to get it back out into the wild.” Photo Courtesy/ Ohio Bird SanctuaryPhoto Courtesy/ Ohio Bird SanctuaryPhoto Courtesy/ Ohio Bird SanctuaryPhoto Courtesy/ Ohio Bird SanctuaryPhoto Courtesy/ Ohio Bird Sanctuary Ohio's Division of Wildlife knew of another owl in a comparable circumstance at the nonprofit Ohio Wildlife Center. “They had a very similar situation with one orphaned baby about the same size and age as ours, so we decided that these two would make perfect siblings,” said Schwartz. “We just need to get them back out with some owl parents.” Ohio Wildlife Center volunteer Chris Brinkman created a nest in trees near wild adult owls. In addition, a camera was placed near the new nest to ensure the babies continued to do well with the help of volunteers. The parent owls began raising the babies on the second night in the new nest. Schwartz said it is possible that the adult owls could have been the parents of the orphaned owl from the Ohio Wildlife Center because the new nest was placed near where the baby had come from in Canal Winchester. The new mother owl was recorded feeding her new babies a rabbit on the surveillance camera; the bird's diet also includes raccoons and skunks. Photo Courtesy/ Ohio Bird Sanctuary Since the great horned owls are some of the largest in Ohio, there is usually a maximum of two to three babies per nest. The owl babies will leave the nest when they are about 6 to 8 weeks old. The Ohio Bird Sanctuary takes in about 500 injured or ill birds a year with the goal of rehabilitating and returning them to the wild, Schwartz noted. ...read more read less