Whooo do you call for a fallen baby owl?

Spring has sprung — and that means, among other things, baby owls are falling from their nests.

It’s fledging season on the High Desert.

Many think it’s difficult to see the predators during the day, but in Bend, a family of great horned owls has taken up residence in one of our busiest parks. People from all over are flocking to Drake Park to see the birds.

“Well, it’s a very fat and very fluffy owl baby,” one onlooker said Monday while she looked through her binoculars.

There are two in a tree that’s been fenced off by Bend Parks and Rec. There used to be three.

“It happened right here,” Norm Williams said.

He was walking through Drake Park one morning. He’s a wildlife photographer and was on a hike to take pictures of the family of fowl. That’s when he saw it.

“One of the little guys was on the ground,” Williams recalled.

The bird had been knocked from his nest.

Two’s company but three’s a crowd, apparently. So Norm called the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. They came and took the bird, worried a dog, child or other creature might come disturb — or worse, kill the animal.

“Owls nest in precarious places,” said Dr. Jeff Cooney, the owner of High Desert Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation.

He said that a few years ago, they would see one to three owlets. But last year, they took care of 19 — and this year, they are already up to nine, with 4-6 weeks still left in the fledging season.

“They don’t quite have their balance, they’re tired of staying in the nest, they walk out on a branch — they’re going everywhere,” Cooney said.

Then they fall. Which is completely normal for this stage in an owl’s development.

Many times, they stay on the ground until they learn to fly. The mother bird will fly down to feed it.

The problem is, owls are nesting in more public places than before.

“They’re getting used to the hustle and bustle,” Cooney said.

People come across the animals more and more often.

No one should keep an owlet. They eat five to eight mice a day. They grow to their full size in just eight weeks.

Many times, people will find the birds and try to feed it grocery store food, like chicken.

Because the birds grow so fast, they need to consume full prey, bones and all. If they don’t, they don’t get enough calcium and can develop a crippling bone disease. That can happen in just three days, Cooney said.

If you do stumble across an owlet, call High Desert Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation at 541-241-8680.