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.
Photo source: Julian Robinson
While most owls limit themselves to prey up to 20% of their body weight, Powerful Owls go after many arboreal mammals such as possums, gliders, and juvenile koalas, which can be 50 to 100% of their body weight. That is about 10x the body weight to prey ratio of other owls.
Here's an Australian Geographic article about Powerful Owls worth a read with some more photos, including this low power version.
Research suggests that as habitat becomes scarcer, young owls are staying longer with their parents, who will continue feeding them into the next breeding season and that appeared to happen with Snowy II.
They're just like people!
Yes, it doesn't seem we're doing any species any favors, does it? 😅
If a powerful owl has chronic fatigue is it still a powerful owl or at best a meek owl?
He just needs to rest his eyes for a minute... He'll catch up later...
20 x 10 = 50 to 100
If we look at it as a ratio as stated, it seems to work out.
Powerful Owls are about 3 pounds. If they can take down body weight prey, that's 3 pounds.
A big barn owl, a common owl in most parts of the world, would be 1.4 pounds. Going by the average prey weight of 20% body weight, that's 0.28 pounds.
3 / 0.28 = 10.7
I'm still confused by 'X times as many' and 'Y% more' not seeming to add up too. Don't worry, some day maybe we will learn.
It's all good. Math isnt a requirement to enjoy looking at the wildlife. It's also ok to question things, especially if they don't make sense.