By Lauren McSherry

Photos special to the town crier Before releasing the owls found at Westwind Barn, Karen Hoyt displays a barn owl she rehabilitated and uses for education programs. The owl cannot be released to the wild due to a broken leg that did not heal correctly.

Two of three orphaned barn owl nestlings discovered at Westwind Barn in May were released in Byrne Preserve in Los Altos Hills Friday night.

The third owl will be released once it puts on more weight and is deemed strong enough to survive in the wild.

A hay delivery from Sacramento deposited the 3-week-old baby owls in the barn’s hayloft where they were found fluttering about by a stablehand.

When the forklift moved the hay to the truck for transport, the owl family moved too, minus the parents, Los Altos resident Karen Hoyt said. Hoyt, a 20-year volunteer with Wildlife Rescue, prepared the birds for release.

“Barn owls are extremely special because they are nature’s mouse trap,” she said. “The average barn owl can eat up to six gophers or 12 mice in one night.”

It’s not unusual for barn owls to arrive with hay deliveries because as more and more old trees are cut down, the owls lose access to tree cavities, their natural nesting habitat. They then build nests in manmade crannies, such as the spaces between hay bales, Hoyt said.

She has rehabilitated owls that nested in hay from as far away as Montana.

Last year Wildlife Rescue handled 26 owls that were found in barns following hay deliveries, Hoyt said.

Hoyt, assisted by two residents, released the two owls at dusk. They flew over Byrne Preserve towards Hidden Villa before circling back.

Hoyt said it was not certain that the owls would nest in the preserve. Typically, they will fly for miles and miles, disappearing from sight, after they are released.

Barn owls are among eight species of owl that are endemic to the Los Altos Hills area.