One of Helsinki’s young eagle owls may have died

Stara, Kundi, or Friidu may have died

print this

On Friday evening, a group of people celebrating the start of the summer holiday season reported finding a dead eagle owl on Aleksanterinkatu in the centre of Helsinki at two AM Sunday.
      However, two men reportedly took the animal away before units of the Helsinki Rescue Department arrived at the scene.
      The men left quickly. One of them reportedly carried a video camera.
     
According to Raimo Seppälä, the chairman of the city eagle owl working group, the dead bird is most likely one of the members of the family of eagle owls which have nested in the Forum building. No other eagle owls are known to be living in the area.
      It is not possible to judge from the photograph that was taken of the carcass if the bird was a young or an old owl, as the three young ones have grown, to adult size. All of the young eagle owls nesting at forum were tagged, as was their father.
     
Seppälä says that the bird might have fallen ill, or collided with a window in the dark, or with an overhead tram cable.
      As a protected species, eagle owls, alive or dead, cannot be taken away by a finder. Seppälä appeals to the men who were seen taking the dead bird away to contact the Finnish Museum of Natural History of the University of Helsinki, where all tagged birds that are found dead are supposed to be taken.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Eagle owl chicks have names (23.5.2011)
  Helsinki to use urban eagle owls in tourist marketing effort (28.4.2011)
  First flight of urban eagle owl chick ends up embarrassingly in rescue by firemen (21.4.2011)
  Urbanised eagle owls posing for bird-watchers (11.4.2011)

Helsingin Sanomat