A small burrowing owl that flew onboard the world’s second-largest cruise ship in Florida unwittingly ended up on a two-week Caribbean vacation and has since made headlines.
The burrowing owl boarded Royal Caribbean International’s Symphony of the Seas while the ship was docked in January. When passengers who were sailing around the Caribbean spotted the brown-feathered bird perched on railings, exit signs, and planters on deck, even scouting out the luxury shopping section, they alerted the crew, and a plan was hatched to rescue the owl when the ship returned to Florida.
However, with only an hour between passengers disembarking from the ship on Jan. 21 and new passengers arriving for a week-long trip to Mexico, the ship’s environmental officer called ahead to secure the help of Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologist Ricardo Zambrano.
While crew members stood below the balcony making noises to distract the little owl, Zambrano crept up from behind and made the catch by launching a net gun. He then transferred the bird to a transport crate for return to dry land.
Burrowing owls are one of the smallest owls in the state of Florida, measuring up to nine inches tall. They spend most of their time in the wild in their burrows or open shady areas. They’re also considered to be a threatened species in the Florida region by the FWC.
The cruise ship’s little stowaway would have been at risk without rescue since a burrowing owl’s staple diet consists of insects, small reptiles, birds, frogs, and rodents, many of which could not have been hunted onboard. Nonetheless, the owl appeared to be in good health after two weeks at sea but was later transported to the rehab facility of the South Florida Wildlife Center as a safety measure.
On Feb. 18, the bird was released by the Center’s Project Perch in Davie, Florida—which is 25 miles north of the cruise terminal—after being fattened up with a mixture of bugs and small rodents.
