In the span of little more than a week, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center released several major updates about Athena the Owl, the Great Horned Owl who visits annually and has inspired an enthusiastic bird cam following. On April 8, Athena's first owlet hatched; two days later, the second owlet hatched. On April 17, one owlet did not survive. The second owlet was announced as dead the next day, and the day after that, April 19, Athena abandoned the nest and cameras were ominously shut off.
It seemed to be yet another sad story to add to 2026's Bingo Card, but several hours later the Wildflower Center announced that the second owlet was not dead after all and had been transferred to Austin Wildlife Rescue for rehabilitation.
"It has been a rollercoaster," says Scott Simons, director of marketing and communications at the Wildflower Center.
According to Simons, Athena has only abandoned the nest once before — as far as staff is aware — and usually this is the result of some sort of inability to get food for Mom or her owlets. Like any good drama, rumors have been circulating amongst Athena's devoted owl cam followers about what has happened.
Her mate was injured and unable to bring food.
Her mate up and left her.
Athena tired of being a mom and flew the coop.
Simons says they simply don't know the cause, but for whatever reason, Athena's owlets weren't able to get enough food, and she left.
"So we turned off the live feed, but Cornell Lab of Ornithology continued to watch the nest on their end and they saw signs of life," says Simons. From there, the rescue mission happened quickly. Within 15 minutes, staff from the Wildflower Center and Austin Wildlife Rescue had gathered the owlet in a basket lined with fleece blankets and a heating pad — a critical detail, as the owlet was cold to the touch upon retrieval.
"[This] is a really dangerous sign, especially for young birds. If their body temperature cools too much, they stop functioning, and they can actually go into organ failure," says Julie Maron, executive director of Austin Wildlife Rescue. Getting the owlet warmed up as fast as possible was the top priority.
As of now, the news is encouraging.
Aside from some treatable mites, Athena's owlet is doing well, reports Austin Wildlife Rescue. Photo from Austin Wildlife Rescue Facebook page
"He ate like a little champ this morning, and still seems energetic," Maron says, adding that things remain "very promising." The owlet, less than a week old and currently without a name, as Austin Wildlife Rescue does not name the wildlife who pass through the facility, is being kept in an incubator while staff monitor its recovery.
Once it's strong enough, the owlet will be placed with Eddison, a permanent resident Great Horned Owl at Austin Wildlife Rescue who serves as a foster mom for young owls in rehabilitation. It's a pairing that Maron calls priceless.
"With birds of prey, one of the challenges is to ensure that they do not habituate or imprint people," she explains, "and so having [Eddison] in that function as a surrogate just does so much."
If all goes well, the owlet won't be ready for release until around August or September, but already Maron is in talks with the Wildflower Center to return there for the release. For those hoping for a Disney-esque reunion of Athena and her baby at The Wildflower Center, it's not impossible, but it's not exactly likely.
"Once the babies are ready, they are expected to leave," Maron says. "But that is the area that that owl would have left from," making it a meaningful, if bittersweet, homecoming all the same.
While Athena may not know that her one owlet is alive and recovering, Simons says they expect her to arrive, as per usual, next Spring where she'll once again lay her eggs.
