For owls that are superb.
Please scroll down to read our community rules.
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:
Enjoy this photo dump of some of the patients we've seen this year. All of these owls have been released and we still have four in our care. This year, they've come to us for window and auto collisions, gunshots, fishing line, and electricity. Let's appreciate the beauty of these regal raptors and do our part in helping them stay wild.
In the first photo, the owl has a shadow over his left eye, and the pupil is larger than the right. Do their pupils dilate independently of one another, or is this the unfortunate result of brain trauma? If it's natural, that's a really cool adaptation.
Great attention to detail!
Owls not only have the ability to dilate their pupils independently, but they can also do it voluntarily. The only thing they can't do with their eyes is to move them, as they are not spherical like ours, but shaped like a light bulb, with the fat end inside their skull. This is why they have to move their entire head to look at things.
To see some more about this independent dilation and how checking its function is used to test for eye injury, check this post and this post.
The second linked post has one of my fav pics of the year as well!
Owls can control their pupils independently. They have such neat adaptations to make them such effective hunters. Amazing you noticed that detail - are you sure you’re not an owl?
I agree with every statement you have made! 😆