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.
From Ahjet Lin
The Burrowing Owl reaches speeds of up to 145 mph / 235 kmh and plows headfirst like this into the hillside to carve out its burrow. After that, it really needs a place to rest its head!
Gotcha! They just use old holes from badgers and such! 🤣
They are quite aerodynamic though, aren't they?
I like the landing gear coming out here in these other photos.
Look at that cute feathery bullet just shooting through the air with no care.
Most owls seem to clock in at a top speed of 30-40 mph / 48-64 kmh, which is decent to pretty good for a bird.
Trying to find speed data on birds, and especially owls is not as easy as I was expecting. Most birds have a regular cruising speed and then a "I'm out of here!" speed. Owls tend to do more gliding to conserve energy and to stay quiet and go slowly to look for food.
I couldn't find any data to back it up, but Great Horned Owl and Northern Hawk Owl seem to get the most credit for the fastest owls. I also so a few people list Snowies and Barn Owls as particularly fast owls. Most bird speeds I saw given sounded like estimations or just something repeated without citation, so I wouldn't take this as a concrete truth.
Obviously we need to hold an owl Olympics and test them in all forms of flying. From gliding to GTFO.
I've seen a few people manage to get cards to perform for shows. I've watched people at the rehabs try to get owls to cooperate as well.
If you're going to an owl Olympics, you're going to be there quite a while! 🤣