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.
Community Rules:
Posts must be about owls. Especially appreciated are photographs (not AI) and scientific content, but artwork, articles, news stories, personal experiences and more are welcome too.
Be kind. If a post or comment bothers you, or strikes you as offensive in any way, please report it and moderators will take appropriate action.
AI is discouraged. If you feel strongly that the community would benefit from a post that involves AI you may submit it, but it might be removed if the moderators feel that it is low-effort or irrelevant.
Also visit our twinned community for wholesome content:
From Greg Hottman
Eastern Screech-Owl; female. When I first spotted her, she was 7 feet from me and didn't care. Went to grab the camera and tripod, like I was a potted plant to her. This morning (01/04/2026) when it was just getting light out. 20,000 ISO and 1.3 second exposure. Dane County
I don't think language has had enough time to catch up to how humanity as a whole looks at animals as sentient, individual beings.
At the same time, it's not as though they're being offended by how we refer to them in the way people could be. Our presence is offensive enough for them. 😁
A lot of the time it's not possible to tell visually if the bird is male or female, so everyone falls back to whatever their default way of speech is. In this case though, the photographer seems to know which is which from seeing them nesting in a nest box and the male of the pair is red, so they are easily distinguished in this case.