Athena the owl welcomes new owlets in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin’s iconic great horned owl welcomed new owlets at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

What they're saying:

Since 2012, a pair of great horned owls have made a specific corner of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center their home. Like clockwork, the pair return each year to nest above the archway of the courtyard entrance, greeting visitors who pass beneath them.

The female owl, affectionately named Athena, has become a staple of the center.

"Athena is our mascot, right? She's super iconic," said Kyle Cheesborough, Director of Gardens and Collections at the Wildflower Center. "She's sitting on a nest right now with two eggs, one that just hatched yesterday and one that is hatching as we speak."

Athena’s reach extends far beyond the local Austin community. Through a partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the center hosts a 24/7 livestream of the nest, allowing bird-watchers from around the globe to monitor her progress in real-time.

Cheesborough noted that the international interest in the owl is a point of pride for the center.

"It's really cool how engaging it is for the public at large, beyond Texas, beyond the United States," Cheesborough said. "We get international observers. It's really cool."

For visitors like Rhonda Conrad, who traveled to Austin from Panama City, Florida, seeing the bird in person is a unique experience.

"Pretty awesome. I think it's great. I'm a real bird enthusiast," Conrad said. "I love listening to the birds on my walk in the morning and everything. So anything that has to do with birds is great to me."

Conrad said the livestream has even become a family activity. Her son and daughter-in-law often tune in at night to check on Athena’s status after putting their baby to sleep.

The new owlets will remain in the nest for about a month before they begin to "fledge," the process of learning to fly and eventually leaving the nest to start lives of their own. Until then, Athena remains a fixture of the South Austin gardens, capturing hearts both in-person and online.

To watch Athena and her growing family, click here.