From Maciej Wontorowski
Popping in to friend's café
St Aidan's Nature Park, Leeds
this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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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.
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Nah, it's normal size. I just think we don't see many photos from such a full side view. Here's the first random side pic Google gave me:
I've actually been enjoying this stubby look a lot lately. Owls have very large wings for their mass, which allows them to flap less. While their famed "silent flight" is mostly true, the big wings let them glide more, and that decreased need to flap makes those quiet wings even quieter. The analogy I always give here is it's like a larger PC fan moves more air at lower rpm, so it's not just the fan blades being quieter, there's just significantly less overall movement to accomplish the same job. So when it's standing upright and those wings are folded up, it just looks like a fluffy oatmeal container. When those wings come out though, it changes the whole perspective of its body length.
Birds are also mainly done growing by the time they leave the nest also. They'll still pack on more weight with time, but their skeleton is basically done growing by the time they fledge. That's how they can band birds before they leave the nest. If that leg bone was still growing, they couldn't band it, but by doing it right before it's strong enough to fly far away, they can do it safely.
Also, due to the lack of belly spots, I'd guess this is a male in the original post if I was forced to choose.
Good info thanks!
My pleasure!