American Bald Eagle Foundation staff last week returned to the wild a boreal owl they nursed back from a “severe state of shock.”

Resident Sarah King discovered the owl on her porch after hearing a “thump” against her home at Fifth Avenue and Dalton Street Wednesday evening. The mature bird – measuring nine inches and weighing about a quarter-pound – was dazed and lying on its side, she said.

Raptor trainer Leia Minch said foundation staff gave the bird a saline-type solution and left it for the night in a nest-shaped bed in a pen in the foundation office. The bird appeared near death, but by the next morning had made a surprising recovery.

“He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” and sitting upright, Minch said. Foundation staffers released the bird the following evening about 100 feet from King’s house. It flew from the hands of foundation staffer Chloe Goodson into the woods adjacent to the Department of Transportation barn.

Minch recommended residents place decals or other items on the insides of windows to reduce bird collisions. Picture windows that reflect the outdoors are difficult for birds to see, she said.

Minch said it’s not uncommon for owls to suffer collisions with objects. Although they’re night hunters, owls don’t have the eyesight of eagles. They hunt primarily by using excellent hearing, and can triangulate the location of prey with their ears, she said.

Boreal owls grow up to 10 inches and nest in holes in trees. They are irregular visitors to the area, present here in only small numbers, according to various Alaska bird guides.

Earlier this year, the eagle foundation shipped to Juneau a pygmy owl for treatment. The foundation also responds to calls about injured bald eagles.