This year a 75-foot Norwegian spruce in Oneonta, New York, was selected to bring a touch of festive cheer to the Rockefeller Center in New York City. But organizers got a little more than they bargained for when it came time to install it.
Incredibly, after the long 170-mile journey to Manhattan, a worker who was involved in the transportation and securing of the tree came across a little feathered friend. The owl had been nesting in the tree before it was chopped down. Thankfully, the worker’s wife called the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center for help; they ascertained that the tiny chap was a Saw-whet owl; the smallest variety of owl found in the northeast.
The bird, now aptly-named “Rockefeller,” was actually a fully grown male owl. Even more incredibly, the poor little fellow had managed to survive several days without any food or drink. Luckily, with good care and nourishment at the Center, the owl is now flourishing and will be released into the wild when he’s back on his talons.
The people at the Center believe Rockefeller is too traumatized to go back to his original home, so he will fly the coop in the upstate town of Saugerties, as reported in CBS News.
While many see the owl as a little Christmas miracle, his trip to New York City is perhaps a message to us all. Considered a symbol of faith due to its ability to see in the dark, this little owl can inspire some hope in us as a very trying 2020 calendar year comes to an end and a new Christian year begins with the dawn of Advent.
Read more:
The multiple meanings of owls in Christian art
And today we celebrate...