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.
I know many of you fell for some new owls and enjoyed many of the pics of the ones you've already loved. I'm curious to see which photos you thought were the best. If you'd like, share a pic or two from the contest that really caught your attention.
I'll post a few here, but I don't want to post all the good ones myself. Hoo were your highlights of the last few weeks?
Buffy
Morepork / Ruru
Omg that one is so fierce, love it
Morepork is New Zealand's only native owl. They have Barn and Little Owls now too though. Little was introduced on purpose, Barn has snuck over, possibly on ships or airplane landing gear!
Morepork, aka the Ruru, is named after the sound it makes. Look that up if you haven't heard it before!
thanks for the info, that is really interesting to know!
My pleasure! 🦉
This winking one (and really all winking ones) was so good! 😉
I don't think I skipped any winking pics or booty shots, just too irresistible! Hooty Booty!
Flammy
Team Flammy for life though ❤️
What stunning camouflage on such a tiny owl!
One person called it the Ent Owl, which I liked, and another said it looked made of bark and lichen. It really does look like some mythical forest creature made of the earth and trees!
I was sad to see the Flamster not make it a bit further.
Me too! I really thought you guys had the chance to go all the way and do another huge upset.
We were so close too. Less than 10 votes behind Snowy! 2024 will be our year, I can feel it
I love this burrowing owl attitude.
That was a fun one!
This was my fav too
Imperious. Unflappable (except when they flap). The perfect owl.
I have a newfound appreciation for the fish owls after this tournament. The BFOs both made really good runs against the cute tiny owls
Oh man, that was a great one too!
Long live the Big F'n Owl!
Barney
Barny getting knocked out so early was my first sign this event was going to be full of surprises! No way I thought he'd lose so early.
Northern Hawk Owl
Shorty
I can’t figure out how to post photos, but the one of Screechie (grey morph) at night with the moon in the background was so atmospheric!
This one?
I try to look really hard at ones like this that look too good. I'm always worried about putting some AI images out as real owls, but they could just be heavily processed.
I'm no photographer or Photoshop/Lightroom guy so it's hard sometimes for me to tell.
Yeah, that’s the one! I’m sure at least some post-processing went into this, but it does look nice. 🌕 🦉
If you haven't seen this Tawny I posted before, I liked this one too. 🌔