Help Name Our Saw-whet Owl!

In February 2024, a couple vacationing in the Black Hills saw a tiny owl on the shoulder of the highway near the Keystone Y. They rescued a saw-whet owl! It came to the BHRC. Radiographs revealed a broken coracoid bone and a dislocated shoulder. The bird was sent to the Bramble Park Zoo in Watertown SD for rehabilitation. The bone healed correctly. Dislocated shoulders are much more difficult!

The 88 gram owl was not releasable because of the shoulder. It has returned to us to be an avian ambassador. The bird many be tiny physically, but he has a HUGE personality, worthy of a HUGE name.

Saw-whets like dense pine forests. They can more easily hide, both from prey and other predators. They dwell in holes in trees, or the densest sections of the tree branches. Mice are their preferred food, so the fellow with us gets mice!

The volunteers submitted their ideas, and the board selected the best of them. We now share them with you, so this little fellow can have a name for Christmas.

Please vote by December 23. We will announce his name on December 24!

How does it work?

Each vote costs $1.00. Click on the tab with the name you like the best. Then click on Vote Here, and scroll down to your shopping cart to choose the number of votes you want, and to pay for your votes.

Remember, each $1.00 is one vote.

You can vote as many times as you like for the length of the contest.

The name that receives the most votes will be his name.

We will keep our FaceBook page, Instagram site and website updated throughout the contest.

The contest runs from now through Monday, December 23 at 5pm. We will announce his name on December 24!