Published September 24, 2026 at 9:06 AM CDT

After being saved from an abandoned nest at the entrance of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, an owl who beat the odds was released back to the wild following a monthslong recovery process.

A small, quiet crowd was invited to witness the moment on Wednesday evening. The owl was tentative when handlers opened its cage, but eventually, its long wings spread as it swooped around the crowd and toward the nesting site where it hatched.

Lee Clippard, executive director of the Wildflower Center, said after such a difficult nesting year, witnessing the owl take flight was a welcome sight.

"It's like a full circle moment to see the owlet – the owl now, no longer an owlet — fly out of that cage and back into the wild again," he said.

The owl's mother, Athena, is the resident great horned owl at the Wildflower Center. She was caring for two owlets this year when researchers noticed her mate was not coming to the nest with food. Athena was spending more time away from the nest, presumably hunting.

About nine days after hatching, one of her owlets died. A few days later, the center announced the second owlet had also died, and Athena had abandoned the nest.

The site is monitored via camera by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Experts continued to keep an eye on the camera feed, and they noticed slight movement from the second owlet, prompting its rescue by the nonprofit Austin Wildlife Rescue. A surrogate owl raised it and prepped it for life in the wild.

Jules Maron, executive director of the rescue, was ecstatic to have gotten to this point.

"It is profoundly gratifying to be able to take in an animal that needs everything from you, and then being able to release it as an animal that needs nothing from you," she said. "And I think it is just an amazing end."

Athena has been nesting in a sotol planter above the Wildflower Center's entrance since 2012. Every year, she typically lays at least two eggs, and she has a good track record of raising and rearing owlets.

There has been speculation that Athena's mate may have been hurt and unable to hunt. An injured owl was found in a neighborhood near the Wildflower Center just days after Athena abandoned her nest. It later died, but it's not confirmed that owl was her mate.

Staff at the Wildflower Center remain hopeful that Athena will return to nest in the spring. 

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