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this post was submitted on 29 May 2024
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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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@anon6789@lemmy.world , is this a spotted owl?? Sister and I both thought it looked like one, but that seems to cool to be true.
Lovely picture! I'm so jealous!
Well, you made this super easy by giving me a location. Spotted Owls are West Coast owls from Canada through Mexico, so you've got a fine Barred Owl there.
But let's say we didn't have a location. How would we figure this out? Let's take a look at our 2 suspects side by side:
Now our friend the Barred Owl is given his name for that beautiful vertical barring on its belly. You can't see that at all though in your pic, and even in the first example it's kinda scrunched up and not super identifiable. Second pic it's very obvious though. But that wouldn't help you here, so what else do we see?
Look at those sweet faces. Both are adorable, but one owl has a pale face and one has a dark face. Spotted Owls have a darker base coloring, so they'll have a dark facial disc compared to the Barred. Now of course we have coloration in various degrees, but even when I try to find a darker faced Barred and a lighter faced Spotted, it takes a little longer glance, but I think you'd still have a good shot at getting it right if you gave it a solid look. Even here the Barred "eyebrows" don't stand out as much because the face is still much closer in base color to the white brows.
Now let's look at the back plumage , which your photo also nicely shows. We'll zoom in to our previous photo for a better look.
Again, whitish base for Barred lets those white stripes shine. Brown base for Spotted makes them more off white, and the back is, much like the front, more spotted than striped.
So all signs point to your guest being a Barred Owl!
Full flow chart
The 2 get mistaken frequently, and with the hybrids it blurs the lines even more. That is one of the main concerns about the project to shoot the Barred Owls and hybrids to protect the Spotted. With Spotted Owls being so reduced in number already, killing just one by accident can be a huge loss.
So you did not get a visit from a rare owl, but it's still superb! I'm so glad you shared it and we got to learn a lot!
Definitely one of the coolest owls, right up there with all the others.
All owls are top tier!