Barn owl rescued from cathedral's organ pipe

by Ria Andriani

WIRES volunteer Simon carefully extracting the tired and hungry barn owl from the organ pipe.(Supplied: Marion Nel)

In November 2022, WIRES Northern Rivers Raptor coordinator Melanie Barsony received a call from a concerned parishioner of St Carthage's Cathedral in Lismore. A young Barn owl had been trapped inside the building.

"During the next 10 days, whenever there was a mass at the cathedral, the owl would fly as the organ played," Barsony recalls, "much to the delight of any children in the mass who were just amazed at this beautiful little white owl gliding silently back and forth."

Eastern Bar Owls are moderately common, but generally hard to see, as they are mostly active at night. Their common call is a 12 second rough, hissing screech but they are generally quiet. Barsony says they hiss and clack when feeling stressed.

Staff and parishioners of the cathedral worked together with WIRES Raptor experts to help the owl. "They turned off all the lights in the evening and one of the sisters would leave some food near one of the side doors which they left open," Barsony says. "But because he was a juvenile, he didn't have much experience and his instinct was to stay up high."

The cathedral, which was built in the early 20th-century, had many nooks and crannies in its rafters. "We put waters out for him, and we think maybe there were a few geckos up there that he might have been able to catch, but he didn't touch the food we put out near the doors," Barsony says.

Just as everyone was losing hope, the barn owl flew down one of the grand organ pipes. "The only thing we could think is the organ was almost like a tree hollow because it was open at the top," Barsony says. "And as soon as he flew in, he slid right down. A church member noticed when they played the note on the organ, they heard a bit of kerfuffle and saw his little face peeking through the pipe's mouth, but it wasn't big enough for him to get out."

Barsony was away at the time, but WIRES volunteers acquired permission from cathedral staff to extract the owl through the opening of the organ pipe's mouth. "Simon and Marion did the actual rescue," Barsony says. "When Simon put his hand inside the pipe, he just surrendered and Simon pulled him gently out."

The barn owl was hydrated and put into Barsony's care for 10 more days to regain his weight before he was released in an area next to the Wilson River, close to the cathedral.

The rescued barn owl off for some rest and care with
WIRES' Melanie Barsony.(Supplied: Marion Nel)

The story was shared through WIRES social media "This is an incredible story of compassion, determination, and cooperation between so many people to help this precious little Barn Owl," the post says.

Although rescuing the owl from the cathedral had been challenging, Barsony reflects that it was a memorable experience. "One night I sat in the cathedral with only one little light on. I could see the beautiful lead light windows, and every now and then this silent white shape would fly from one end of the cathedral to the other. I wasn't able to catch and rescue him but it was quite lovely just waiting there in the quiet."

First published at ABC Classic, May 24, 2023