An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in southwestern Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a "fighter."

一只猫头鹰在犹他州西南部飞入水泥搅拌机后部分身体被混凝土包裹，经动物收容所工作人员精心清理后预计将重返天空。工作人员称赞这只鸟是“战斗机”。

The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, sanctuary workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers.

这只大雕鸮在黑沙漠度假村被人发现，于本月初送至犹他州卡纳布的最佳朋友动物收容所。 当时它的面部、胸部和右翼都覆盖着干涸的混凝土。 在确认鸟儿能够正常呼吸后， 收容所工作人员花费数日时间，用镊子逐步剥离混凝土，并使用牙刷、洗洁精及手指清理其羽毛。

Two weeks later, it was able to fly again and is continuing its recovery in an aviary.

两周后，它已能重新飞翔，目前正在大型鸟舍中持续康复。

"He's a youngster, which may be why he ended up in a concrete mixer, and we do believe he's a male because he's on the smaller side," said Bart Richwalski with the animal sanctuary.

收容所的巴特·里奇瓦尔斯基表示：“这是只幼鸟，这可能是它被困在水泥搅拌机的原因。我们判断其为雄性，因为体型偏小。”

Great horned owls typically have a downy coating on their feathers that enables them to fly silently as they hunt. But the concrete frayed the rescued owl's feathers, said Best Friends' Chief Sanctuary Officer Judah Battista.

最佳朋友收容所首席运营官犹大·巴蒂斯塔指出，大雕鸮羽毛表面通常覆盖绒毛层，使它们在捕猎时能静音飞行。 但混凝土损伤了这只获救猫头鹰的羽毛。

Now the bird makes a "whooshing" sound as it flies, and the sanctuary won't release it into the wild until it sheds its feathers and can again fly silently. That should occur next spring or summer, Battista said.

现在这只鸟儿飞行时会发出“呼呼”声响。 收容所表示要等到它换羽后恢复安静飞行能力才会放归野外。 巴蒂斯塔称这一过程预计将在明年春夏完成。

"Once our owl friend recovers, we anticipate taking him back to near where he was found, not on the construction site, but somewhere that is a natural habitat for him and release him and let him be," Richwalski said.

里奇瓦尔斯基表示：“待我们的猫头鹰朋友康复后，我们计划将它送回发现地附近——不是建筑工地， 而是适合它生存的自然栖息地，放归山林，让它重获自由。”