Meet Miss Hoot, a rescued Eurasian owl at the Northwest Wildlife Sanctuary in Oak Harbor, Washington, who recently surprised her mom by showing off something no one was expecting: an egg!
While feeding Miss Hoot, her mom noticed she seemed to be hiding something. When she took a closer look, she spotted the egg tucked beneath her. Make sure your sound is on so you can hear Mom’s excitement along with Miss Hoot’s proud little hoots!
When mom said, “YOU HAVE AN EGG!!!!!” it totally made us smile! The sanctuary explained in the caption, “Our Eurasian eagle-owl hasn’t been her usual social self lately, and today as I was feeding her she showed me why!”
Related: Wildlife Photographer Shares Adorable Video of the ‘Cutest Owl of Them All’
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Commenters’ Sweet Reactions to Hearing Miss Hoot’s News
Like us, everybody found Miss Hoot’s surprise heartwarming. @REDD said what the owl was probably thinking, “LOOK WHAT I MADE!!!!” @Jami Mathis shared, “She’s so proud! This is how they show their mates too!”
“The little happy hoots!!!!” pointed out @_thatssotati, which was also one of our favorite parts. @Janice admitted, “I thought she was showing her dinner at first. LOL!”
@Ree asked what many of us were wondering: “So is it fertilized and she can expect a hatchling?”
The sanctuary responded, but not with the news we were all hoping for. “Unfortunately not! She’s never been around any males. Laying eggs is a natural process for them; we’ve just never seen her actually incubate before!”
If Miss Hoot’s egg was fertilized, she’d sit on it for 30-37 days before it hatched. In the wild, these owls usually lay 1-4 eggs at a time. Incubation duties are shared by both mom and dad. The Denver Zoo explained that they breed once a year, with courtship beginning in late fall and nesting occurring in January or February.
They also shared this fun fact: “Eurasian eagle owlets imprint on the first visualized
animal, this strong tendency makes the release of captive-bred owlets into the wild challenging.”
Viewers asked that the sanctuary find a mate for Miss Hoot. Maybe someday down the road she’ll get to be a mom!
This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Jan 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.