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.
These owls are amazing looking! I love Dusky Eagle Owls! 🥰
From Zuhairi Avian
Up close and personal with the majestic Dusky Eagle Owl, a true marvel of nature's artistry. Its piercing yellow eyes and intricate feather patterns make it a captivating sight in the wild.
May 2025 | Nikon D500
Malaysia, Tanjung Karang |
Nikkor AF-S 600mm | Editing LR | DoP 260525
From Frank Rodin
Eastern Screech Owl. Sarnia, Canada.
Not sure if you all will enjoy this one or not, but it's got me picturing a giant owl emerging from a crater, possibly to fight or team up with Godzilla. 😁
From Dave Vanden Heuvel
Soaking wet barred owlet. Hopefully monsoon season is over now. May 2025 - NE Wisconsin
From Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
Knock knock... Hoo's there?? Great-Horned Owl 25-471!
The Wildlife Clinic at the Schuylkill Center admitted a fledgling Great-Horned Owl in need of help. The young owl was spotted on a golf course where he was lethargic and not moving. The bird was safely captured and brought to our center for evaluation.
In collaboration with Dr. James Cortell from Radnor Veterinary Hospital, we were able to determine that the owl had sustained a break to his ulna. However, the injury was fairly old and had mostly repaired itself already. Thankfully, the bone healed properly and in the right place. However, the joint had become stiff and was not able to extend to its full length.
Our team began a physical therapy regimen with 25-471, which consisted of daily stretches to help the joint return to its full range of motion. So far, he has made amazing progress and we hope that he can begin flight practice soon!
Great Horned owl with nictitating membrane covering its eyes as it prepares its recently caught prey.
From Andrew Marshall
So: Just how "little" is a Little owl ? Well smaller than a worm anyway!!
Male Little owl (Athene noctua) with a medium to large earthworm he brought in and delivered to his little Little owlets! #spaghettinight
From James C Sengul
A recently fledged Eastern Screech-Owlet is trying to adapt to its environment / May 20 2025
Photography by James C SENGUL
Sony A1 / Sony 600MM F4 GM
I feel you, little buddy.... 😔
From Chetan Kher
It is my first year photographing owlets, so I wasn't aware of many breeding/nesting locations. I found this location because one of my good friends told me about it. So, I thought of trying my luck. When I reached to the location, I was very pleased to see two owlets perched high on trees. When I was about to photograph the two owlets, I saw something falling on the ground from another tree. Before I can find out what it was, someone on the other side of trail shouted, "Baby Owl". I instantly realized there is another owlet which I haven't seen yet. I quickly went to the other side and saw this owlet on the ground looking up towards the mom asking for help.
For next several minutes, it kept trying to fly/hop back on to different trees and kept falling on the ground. It was just amazing to see the sheer perseverance of this little owlet. I was later told that this kind of action don't happen every day and I was fortunate to see something like this.
Barred Owlet
From Ashwini B
Brown Fish Owl
Eyes like fire, wings like shadow. The silent ruler of the night...
Ranthambore.... India
From Ross Merrigan
Beautiful Screech Owl chick at sunset.
I love the wavey and rippling patterns on the young Screeches.
From Mugunthan Mug
Some animals have this look where it feels like they are looking straight into you. In my case, there is nothing there so it is probably looking through me.
A great grey owl, the largest owl by length.
Somewhere in Washington.
From Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife
Check out the winners below, and there are 8 more honorable mention winners at the non-social.media hosted link above!
Adult Winners:
1st Place – Conrad Peloquin
2nd Place – Damon Bell
3rd Place – Robert K. Brinley
Youth Winners:
1st Place – Adalynn Miller
2nd Place – August Lambert
3rd Place – Josh Pilon
Some owls do a synchronous tail molt, where they loose all 12 of their tail feathers within a very short time period so they have no tail at all for a while. That's what Pierce the Barred Owl just did, losing at least four tail feathers yesterday alone.
Barred Owl tail feathers aren't as stiff and sturdy as, for example, Great Horned Owl tail feathers. An unsupported feather growing in can easily break. If they all grow in together, they support each other.
From Wild Eye Wanderer
Pair of Mottled Wood Owl
Kumbhargaon, Maharashtra |
Feb'25
Bonus pic!
From Vishal Lokare
Two souls, one perch-honoring the power of togetherness
Shot on Nikon Z8 with 200-500 mm
Pune Maharashtra India
Feb 2025
From Dave Vanden Heuvel
Barred Owlet emerging from the cramped nest hole a few weeks ago and getting a good stretch in. May 2025 - NE Wisconsin
From Torrington Animal Control
"Whooo whooo?" That's what we're wondering too little buddy!
A good Samaritan witnessed this sweet owl get dropped by a hawk and quickly scooped it up to avoid it getting any further injuries. THANK YOU!!! It will be heading off to A Place Called Hope for care.
Unfortunately, this individual did not leave his contact information behind and we would love to know where exactly he found this baby. Rehabbers often try to return wildlife to their family and/or original territory after successful rehabilitation. If you were this baby's knight in shining armor, can you give us a ring?
People want to be on their way quickly, but we try to get animals back to where they belong for their best chance at success, especially the babies like this that really do best with their parents!
For the best results for you and the animals, if you have the chance to call or talk to us when you drop off an animal, it's a big help or can save you time if we need to send you to a different group to help your specific animal!
From Gid Ferrer
Philippine Scops Owl
Dolores Quezon 04/2025
The Philippine Scops Owl (Otus megalotis), also Luzon lowland scops owl is a common owl endemic to the Philippines and belong to the family of the typical owls Strigidae. Other common names include "Otus Whitehead", "Whitehead scops owl" and "Luzon lowland scops owl". Everett's scops owl (Otus everetti) and Negros scops owls (Otus nigrorum) were formerly considered conspecific but are now classified as separate species.
Thank you for this wonderful pose and opportunity to photograph you. We all appreciate you
Fujifilm XH2 O XF 150-600mm
From Scottish Owl Centre
'It doesn't get this warm where Siberian Eagle Owls live, so you gotta make the most of the rays! 😎
A watchful barn owl, from a vantage point on a fence post, scours his surroundings on the lookout for prey in Croydon, south London. Photograph: Tomos Brangwyn
From The Guardian
It is dusk, a short walk from the big Ikea in Croydon, and a barn owl is emerging from its nest to hunt. In the fading light, the male owl sits on a fence post to survey the rough grass below. He has a busy evening ahead: he is responsible for feeding a roosting female for the next few weeks while she cares for their chicks. The owl hops to another fence post. Suddenly, he dives into the grass below, emerging a minute later with an unlucky rodent, and flies back into the nest.
“I still get really excited,” says Tomos Brangwyn, a local enthusiast who monitors the site, lowering his binoculars. “He’ll do that most of the night. It’s a great sign that there’s a female in there that we haven’t seen for a while, as she’s on the eggs,” he says.
The scrubland is surrounded by urban sprawl. Police sirens and souped-up cars roar past, and industrial buildings hum under harsh security lights nearby. Central London is less than 10 miles (16km) away, but the barn owls here are unperturbed, feasting on the same diet of voles, rats, mice and other small animals as their country cousins. This patch of land has supported as many as three breeding pairs in recent years.
Owl sightings have risen sharply in the capital, monitoring data shows, with Londoners increasingly seeing the birds in green areas and back gardens. There were just 25 barn owl sightings in 2010, but 347 spotted a decade later.
A barn owl goes hunting at night in the Croydon area. City birds will enjoy the same diet of voles, rats, mice and other small animals as their country cousins. Photograph: Tomos Brangwyn
“People might not think owls are in London. But they don’t realise how wild the city actually is,” says Becky Garden, a partnership officer for Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (GiGL), which records environmental data for the capital.
All of the UK’s owl species – the tawny, barn, short-eared, long-eared and little – can be found in the capital at various points of the year. The shy, nocturnal hunters can be hard to monitor, with almost no reliable population surveys performed for many years. Sighting data is considered a measure of presence, rather than of population size, as it may also be driven by the rise of popular citizen science apps and awareness campaigns such as the Owl Prowl run by London Wildlife Trust. But most Londoners are probably not far away from an owl, even if they never see them, says Garden. “Records of owls in London have increased quite a lot from about 2016,” she says.
Tawny owls – known for the “twit twoo” duet sung by males and females to each other – are found in green areas throughout the capital, nesting in hollow tree species and even known to prey on green parakeets. Reports of sightings have increased from 159 in 2010 to 894 in 2020.
Short- and long-eared owls are infrequent winter visitors. Little owls are found in larger parks, similar to barn owls. But barn owls have also been spotted in Notting Hill, Deptford and other places that were probably one-off visits. The birds sometimes surprise Londoners: last month, journalist Ash Sarkar posted a photo of one in north London on social media under the tagline “Wtf is a barn owl doing in Tottenham???”.
A captured barn owl has its data recorded – the species has experienced a significant recovery in recent years. Photograph: Tomos Brangwyn
The apparent resurgence of the barn owl reflects broader national trends, with the species experiencing a significant recovery in recent years. The last thorough survey in the mid-90s estimated the population to be about 4,000 breeding pairs in the UK, but the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) believes it may now exceed 10,000. It is no longer listed as a threatened species in the UK, benefiting from a rollout of barn owl boxes and sufficient habitat to hunt rodents. But the overall owl population is not as healthy.
“With the exception of the barn owl, they are all not doing brilliantly. There’s a bit of a decline across the board. It is most pronounced in the little owl, that seems to be having a really tough time of it, linked to insect decline,” says Jon Carter from the BTO. “But barn owls have turned a bit of a corner. They are doing really, really well.”
The owls are reasonably common in large gardens, town parks and city areas, Carter says. “Wherever you live, if you’ve got bit of leafy stuff around, odds are there are going to be owls nearby,” he says. “Because they sleep all day long and are as quiet as anything at night when they’re flying around hunting, people just don’t really notice them unless they’re right outside the window hooting away.”
