Owling success GLORIA'S HEALING MISSION

'Hoot' would have thought a simple rescue would have turned into a lifelong passion for birds

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

With a little owl nuzzled into her hand for the first time, nibbling on her fingers as she gently hand-fed it, Gloria Harris was smitten. That was some 30 years ago and since then, she has rescued more than 300 ruru nohinohi (little owl), affectionately earning her the title of “Owl Lady” around Invercargill.

“They're just endearing wee guys, especially as chicks - they're just so cute,” smiles Gloria, 72.

Thinking back to where it all started, Gloria explains that she was always fascinated by owls. After talking to a friend who worked at the nearby Queens Park Aviary, where abandoned chicks were sometimes dropped off, she shared she'd love the chance to help rehabilitate them.

Within a week, two baby nohinohi owlets were delivered to her doorstep in a shoebox — and Gloria hasn’t looked back since.

“I lifted the lid and my first thought was, ‘Oh, no, they're hawks!’” remembers Gloria, who at the time was working in an admin role for the Department of Conservation while raising her children, Craig, now 44, and Nicole, 41.

“You'd expect owls’ eyes to be round and they weren’t. But I wasn’t going to abandon them and supposed I’d better rear them. Lo and behold, they morphed into little owls.”