Last summer, a Fairfield resident called the Suisun Marsh Wildlife Center to report a kitten had been found in the street.

Only it wasn’t a kitten. It was a baby bobcat, Executive Director Monique Liguori said.

The resident managed to move the bobcat kitten away from vehicles, then waited to see if its mother would return.

When that didn’t happen, the resident scooped up the bobcat and took it to the wildlife center in Suisun City.

“All baby bobcats in Region 3, where we are located, are transferred to Wildlife Education and Rescue Center (WERC) in Morgan Hill for care,” Liguori said.

“Their trained staff ensures the cats grow up with no human contact,” she said. “They have the best chance of growing up with other bobcats there.”

That’s important, because wild animals who lose their fear of humans often can’t be rehabilitated and returned to their native habitat.

The kitten was nicknamed “Fairfield” and was examined by WERC staff, Liguori said. The baby was estimated to be about 10 weeks old and so malnourished he weighed just 2 1/2 pounds — about half what a kitten his age should weigh.

The youngster had a long road to recovery, but Liguori said after about four months Fairfield gained 16 pounds dining on dead mice and rats, then live rats, dead and live ground squirrels, rabbits and quail — the diet he would have in the wild. And by November of last year, Fairfield was in good enough shape for a shot at freedom, Liguori said.

“WERC contacted us to release him back into Solano County, where he came from,” she said. “We were thrilled to be part of the successful end to his journey. We wish him a long and happy life!”

Not every animal that comes to the wildlife center gets the opportunity to go home. Some are too injured to survive in the wild, and others come to the center with congenital health problems.

Some trade their freedom for care as exhibit species or life as part of the educational programs at the wildlife center. But educational animals must be capable of handing that job.

Luna, a barn owl, came to the center in 2013 with a birth defect called an “angel wing.” Instead of being formed normally, her left wing curves inward from the wrist, toward her body.

Wildlife center employees started physical therapy on the owl, but despite their efforts, Luna can’t use her left wing to fly.

If owls are unusual, barn owls can be more so, Liguori said. Found worldwide, they are the only species in their group, Tytonidae, while the rest are in the group Strigidae.

“They are literally unique among owls,” she said.

Their sharply defined facial disk funnels sound back to their ears, and barn owls can hunt by sound alone. They tend to nest in old barns and abandoned buildings, and consume a thousand rodents a year.

Barn owls are considered exquisitely beautiful, with light-colored, heart-shaped faces. But they are known for having difficult temperaments, Liguori said.

“The hissing, screaming and other strange noises they make could well have been the basis for many ghost stories!” she said. “So we were not at all sure that Luna would be able to handle the training required for an education bird to be displayed to the public.

“Luckily for us, Luna turned out to be willing to work with us,” Liguori said.

Wildlife Care Director Kris Reiger supplied the care and training to transform the wild bird into one the center can use in its education programs, so members of the public can learn to appreciate barn owls.

“She did do a bit of yelling at first, but that has ended,” Liguori said. “Her lovely, almost other-worldly appearance is already a big hit with guests.”

Luna is a successor of sorts to Guinevere, who has been at the center for the past 12 years.

Guinevere arrived in 2003 from the Pacific Wildlife Care. The owl was hunting when she flew into a barbed-wire fence, causing such injuries to her left wing that it had to be amputated.

“She has been a truly wonderful education bird for us, doing hundreds of programs and greeting visitors to the Wildlife Center,” Liguori said.

But she has aged, and it is harder for Guinevere to go away from the center to do programs.

“She is still happy in her enclosure, meeting guests and doing occasional shows at the center,” Liguori said, adding that the center doesn’t ask the bird to do anything that causes her distress.

Guinevere has another successor, a great horned owl named Griffin. “Since we do have so many programs away from the center, there is a real need for a great horned owl for those shows,” Liguori said.

Griffin became a candidate for the job the hard way. He was hit by a car in February 2014, suffering serious injuries. He no longer can extend his left wing entirely, and he no longer can fly.

“Great horned owls, Bubo virginianus, are truly the most majestic of owls and one of the two largest found in North America,” Liguori said.

The other is the snowy owl, best known as the type kept by the fictional character Harry Potter of the book series of the same name. His snowy owl, Hedwig, became as much companion as she was the young wizard’s messenger.

Great horned owls don’t have horns. Instead, they have protruding feathers called “ear tufts.” But that’s a misnomer, too, Liguori said: The tufts have nothing to do with the ears, which actually are on the sides of the bird’s head behind the edge of the facial disk that funnels sound to them, just as in barn owls.

Liguori said great horned owls are sometimes called “winged tigers” because they are fierce hunters that can capture medium-sized birds and mammals, including skunks and porcupines, as prey.

Like other owls, great horned owls can turn their heads 270 degrees, which make them appear to be able to turn their heads all the way around.

Most people can turn their heads 60 to 80 degrees, Liguori said. That’s because most mammals have seven bones in their necks.

By comparison, the great horned owl has 14.

“So far, Griffin is taking extremely well to his training and is becoming a favorite with the public, as he is with us,” Liguori said.

He is smaller than Guenevere, which is typical. Male owls are smaller than the females.

“It has not been as common for us to have an education bird like Luna with a birth defect,” she said.

“Almost always when these beautiful birds are brought to us helpless for our care, their injuries have been caused in some way — deliberately or accidentally — by man. Guinevere was injured by a fence, Griffin by a car, and we impact birds and animals in multiple ways more all the time.”

The drought also is impacting birds of prey, causing a 60-year low in breeding, Liguori said. “If you were watching, they were hard to find. The ones we were able to raise and release were even more precious than usual.”

The wildlife center is a nonprofit organization that accepts donations and memberships.

Individual memberships are $15, family memberships are $25, contributing and business memberships are $50, and lifetime memberships are $500. Those interested in donating can make checks payable to the Suisun Marsh Natural History Association and send them to the association at 1171 Kellogg St., Suisun City, Calif., 94585.