The 2020 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a 75-foot tall Norway Spruce that was acquired in Oneonta, N.Y., is prepared for setting on a platform at Rockefeller Center Nov. 14, in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
The tiny owl rescued from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after surviving a harrowing, 200-mile journey from Oneonta to Manhattan was set to be released back into the wild Tuesday evening.
The brown and white speckled Saw-whet, nicknamed Rockefeller, will now be free to continue her migratory journey after landscapers in charge of cutting down the famed spruce ripped her from the upstate town where she might’ve spent the winter.
“Rockefeller has been well nourished and cared for, and has been cleared by specialists to be released back into the wild. We will send her back on her migratory journey today at dusk,” read a Tuesday afternoon tweet from the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, where Rockefeller has been convalescing.
“We have found just the right quiet cluster of conifers to give her the safety she needs. Thank you for all of your love and support, we can’t wait to share the footage of Rocky’s release.”
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Workers discovered the feathered creature clinging for her life to the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce shortly after the tree was trucked into Manhattan on Nov. 14.
Adorable photos of the tiny bird wrapped in an orange sweater soon went viral on social media as the heartwarming tale 2020 needed.
But wildlife experts previously told The New York Post that she would have endured a hellish journey to the big city and is lucky to have survived.
Workers discovered the feathered creature clinging for her life to the 75-foot-tall Norway spruce.