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 Rocky Point Bird Observatory
The first owl at the Rocky Point station was a total surprise - a Long-eared Owl! In the past several years we have been lucky to catch one during the season, but it is not a given. This owl species is particularly cryptic & not a lot is known about them here in North America. In order to safely band and weigh larger owls, we put them in a wrap which keeps them calm.
How would a not so calm burritoed owl behave? Rapid movement of the dangerous owl ends? Complaining?
Differently asked: how do you know it is calm? What are the signs?
Most of my personal animal burritos have been mammals, and it's never worked for me with them other than to keep their movements somewhat more under control.
I have a better understanding of covering a bird's face to calm them, and I can get how removing all that visual stimuli would be advantageous. Birds already have high heart rates and breathing, so minimizing stress in them is very important to keeping them safe. I tend to think of the body wraps as keeping handlers and the birds safe physically rather than mentally. Even big birds are still just birds and are built to be as light as possible, so they injure very easily. The upside to that is when it seems futile to fight, they will freeze and basically just wait out what you are doing. If they fight in a hopeless situation, the probability of injury is just too high, and if they can't fly, they know they will die. So by just letting us do what we want, they will often see being patient as their best outcome, staying chill until they get an opportunity to get away safely, which thankfully we give them once we're done doing whatever procedure to them.
Some will still kick and bite, but once they're wrapped, we know where the danger zones are for our hands. I came across a swaddled Screech owl video with it still putting up its best resistance the other day. While we can't remove their stress or let them know we mean them no harm, we do all that we understand to reduce their stress, as it's important to their health, which is what we are most interested in.
I hope that was somewhat helpful, I'm not the best at bird psychology yet, as most of my hands-on experience is with mammals thus far.
Yes, it was. :)
I'm impressed about your persistence and passion for owls. As far as I can tell you take the time to reply to each and every question asked here, too. Thank you for your work.
I don't think I ever grew out of the childhood bit of asking "why" about everything, and every answer I get makes me want to learn more. A few years back, I never would have imagined there was so much to learn about just one group of birds, but after doing near 4000 Q&A with you guys about them, I feel I've barely scratched the surface. They're an animal we've been fascinated with since our days as primates, yet we still know so little about so many of them.
I always want you guys to feel your questions will be taken seriously and that if you make a comment that it was worth sharing here. The interest you guys have shown for what I share has led me to getting to work hands on with animals, including owls, and I get so many opportunities that I never could have imagined to know more about nature, so I am very grateful to you all. In a time where so much of the human world seems really messed up, getting such a strong appreciation for the natural world and meeting other people that are so passionate about helping animals and making our world a better place in a tangible way has been invaluable. You've all helped give me much more than I've been able to give to you.
I love hearing how learning about these superb owls has made your lives a bit brighter, and I hope to keep encouraging you all to love your local wildlife more and hopefully one day to get involved yourselves. Anyone can volunteer to their local wildlife rescue and become a part of this great experience. Rescues will start looking for volunteers around January, and work will start in March-April, so if anyone thinks they may want to care for animals, I encourage you to reach out to your local rescue people.
Thank you for work of informing us!
My pleasure!
As in, is it actually calm, or does it just not have the option to not be calm? Or “appear” calm?
It's not happy, but when we can keep their struggling to a minimum, it keeps both parties as safe as they can be. It cuts everyone's chances of injury way down and minimizes the time we have to touch them, so they can get back to normal. Some still put up a fight, but at least like this, they can't move intentionally or accidently in a way where they could be injured physically. The rest is just getting done handling them quickly so their stress hormones can clear out.
~~Yes. I think the question is: is it relaxed or just tolerating. And would the owl use its beak and talons to fight, if it wasn't calm.~~
~~I mean in the end it is better if the owl doesn't fight, possibly hurting itself and the people working with it. Regardless of how it feels.~~
E: I should have reloaded before replying. The answer was already there.
Since your questions had already been answered, I will give you some additional context.
Check out my reply to a question here: (link)
And either scroll down or click (here) and you can read a bunch about freezing and fawning behaviors.