For owls that are superb.
US Wild Animal Rescue Database: Animal Help Now
International Wildlife Rescues: RescueShelter.com
Australia Rescue Help: WIRES
Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Italy Wild Bird Rescue: wildvogelhilfe.org
If you find an injured owl:
Note your exact location so the owl can be released back where it came from. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation specialist to get correct advice and immediate assistance.
Minimize stress for the owl. If you can catch it, toss a towel or sweater over it and get it in a cardboard box or pet carrier. It should have room to be comfortable but not so much it can panic and injure itself. If you can’t catch it, keep people and animals away until help can come.
Do not give food or water! If you feed them the wrong thing or give them water improperly, you can accidentally kill them. It can also cause problems if they require anesthesia once help arrives, complicating procedures and costing valuable time.
If it is a baby owl, and it looks safe and uninjured, leave it be. Time on the ground is part of their growing up. They can fly to some extent and climb trees. If animals or people are nearby, put it up on a branch so it’s safe. If it’s injured, follow the above advice.
For more detailed help, see the OwlPages Rescue page.
From The Owl Research institute
Have you ever noticed how much variation there is in the faces of Northern Saw-whet Owls? Take alook at these side-by-side comparisons and see how different each owl can look from the rest.
One datapoint ORI collects from each owl is the amount of facial white right around the face. As you can see, some owls have a lot of white, and some have hardly any at all; it certainly is interesting to see all the faces that pass through our station.
She/he looks coy 🥲
Its modesty is very becoming!
Saw Whet Owls are impossible to tell apart other than observing them during nesting, because the females don't leave.
There's no specific color difference. As you see, they have many different looks. The way it is done in the field is by taking weight and wing measurements and comparing that to their age (determined by looking at the wing feathers under an UV light!) and then the observer can use those stats to get a reasonable determination of sex.
To be sure, DNA tests are done, but that isn't feasible for doing a number of owls, such as during a banding program.
That owl must be so incredibly confused about what’s going on. They probably expected to get eaten, but instead this large predator just shines a colored light on their wings, touches them a bunch, then releases them?
I hope the Greys treat us with equal care! 👽
I'm loving all the bonus facts, thanks so much!
Lol I'm glad. I try to not be that old relative that only takes you to do things that are educational. I want people here to have fun, but I just find so many things I feel are amazing to learn about. I try to keep the really dry, hard to understand things like research papers separate, but I like tossing in easy to understand things like how to tell the male/female owls apart.
I skimmed a 10 page research paper to get you that little blep of info. I usually read the whole thing if I have the time and understanding for what it is, but I'm sure most of you just want the tl;dr, and there's nothing wrong with that!
I just worry I throw too much at you guys sometimes, so I like when you give me feedback like this. I want to give you as much as you want without making it boring. That's what I think of when I think of my favorite people that have taught me things, and that's what I want to be for all of you.
I mean I can't speak for anyone else, but I absolutely love a good infodump! Nothing gets me excited about a topic like listening to someone who is clearly so enthusiastic and passionate about it. It's one of the best parts of life. Thanks again and I hope you continue!