Owl in Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

Owl in Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

The 2020 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a 75-foot tall, 11-ton Norway Spruce from Oneonta, N.Y., is craned into place, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, in New York. The tree is presented to New York and the world by Tishman Speyer, the owners of Rockefeller Center. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer)

NEW YORK (AP) — A worker helping set up the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree found a holiday surprise — a tiny owl among the massive branches. The little bird, now named Rockefeller, was discovered on Monday, dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise unharmed. Ellen Kalish, director and founder of the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties, New York, where the bird was taken, says it’s an adult male Saw-whet owl. Kalish says the plan is to release it back to the wild this weekend. The tree, a 75-foot Norway spruce, had been brought to Manhattan on Saturday from Oneonta, New York, in the central part of the state.

Photo: (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer)