Via NY Post:
The adorable owl rescued from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was lucky to survive the fall when it’s Norway Spruce home was chopped down — and would have been terrified during the 200-mile truck journey to Manhattan.
The brown and white speckled Saw-whet — which was found clinging to a branch Saturday as the tree was unwrapped at Rockefeller Center — went three days without food and water as it lay sealed up in a cocoon of plastic wrap and wire.
“When it comes to wildlife there is always a bigger picture, it’s not about an owl in a sweater, there’s a bigger educational picture,” said Missy Runyan, who runs the Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center in Hunter.
“Worst case scenario… such a tiny little body would’ve been crushed by a limb above.”
The bird, nicknamed Rockefeller for its unwanted, temporary new home, endured blaring car horns and other foreign racket reverberating through the branches during the drive, a known stressor for owls.