this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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For owls that are superb.
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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.
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Owls hold so many great secrets!
Owls and birds aren't the only ones to have them, and they come in a few different styles, not all made of actual bone. Some of birds' more reptilian relatives also have them, and a handful of fish as well.
Scleral Ring Wikipedia Entry
Examples of scleral rings in vertebrates. Common names in alphabetical order of images: great barracuda, cownose ray, mahi mahi, tarpon, wahoo, king mackerel, wild turkey, rock monitor lizard, eagle-owl, scarlet macaw, goose, crocodile monitor lizard, caiman lizard
Slightly more technical article here
Mososaur
Now that you mention it, I have seen something slightly similar in fish eyes, although those feel less like bone and more like cartilage.
Yup, different environments, eye shapes, and the activities the animals will experience have all lead to variations of the ring structures (or lack thereof).
A nice TIL for me is that in that collage, B is a ray, a cartilaginous fish, and it has a scleral ring, which is going to be made of cartilage, since they have no actual bone at all.