Owls                     
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Most owls are nocturnal (active at night) or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) and secretive, so most people don't often get a chance to see them up close.  Among their most impressive natural tools for hunting at night are their eyes (as much as 100 times better at gathering light than ours) and their hearing (some can hear rodents underground in their burrows!).

You can select more months to feed the beautiful owls by simply adding  more months to your shopping cart. We will adjust your membership accordingly.

 Our new male barn owl arrived from Tucson, Arizona in May 2007.  Although the records of his early days in captivity are unclear, we believe he was probably hit by a car sometime the year he hatched, or in early 2006. His right wing was fractured at the elbow, resulting in his inability to fly.  Last year he was transferred from one Tucson area rehabilitator to another, who used him to foster young, orphaned barn owls before their release back to the wild.

This owl was hit by a car in January 2003.  His right clavicle was fractured but healed  well enough for him to  fly.  However, post recovery it was observed that his mandible and maxilla did not align properly as they grew out. He has a "crossbill" appearance which would also prevent him from eating normally and possibly starving to death.  The veterinarians realized he would have to have regular "coping" or beak trimming to stay alive.  He arrived to our facility from the Carolina Raptor Center on July 26th, 2004, and is featured on the cover of our book: Raptors.

This female came to us in January 1995 from a rehabilitator in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Her left wing has an improperly healed wrist fracture from being hit by a car.  These are the most common large owls in North America and are found everywhere, including suburbs and cities.

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DOB:Unknown       Sex: male
Weight: 45 oz         Wingspan: 40 "

Our male great horned owl was delivered to Raptor Recovery Nebraska in early August 2006.  He had presumably been hit by a car, as he was thin, weak, and unable to fly. However, he had no broken bones, but was blind in his left eye. Because his weight loss (which would be fairly slow in Nebraska's August heat) had clearly occurred over several days, if not weeks, it is suspected that he had contracted West Nile virus (WNV). Because one of the first symptoms of WNV in raptors is wobbly or uncoordinated flight, we think he may have contracted the virus, become sick, and was then hit by a car while flying impaired.  Interestingly, veterinary examination of his blind eye has revealed evidence of past scarring and occlusions on the retina, but not complete detachment, which is another common effect from WNV.  X-rays also revealed a pellet lodged above his right hip; at some point in his past, he was shot, unfortunately a common occurrence in raptors from Nebraska.  He is now capable of full flight, and tests are underway through our multi-year partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine if this owl did survive a previous WNV infection.  The results will enable us to properly vaccinate him this year, along with our entire collection. Stay tuned for results!

October 2007 Update:  This owl's WNV titer was positive, meaning, he was exposed to and survived an infection. Although this should render him immune to the disease from this point forward, we will continue to vaccinate him annually due to his suspected advanced age.

This exquisite little owl was found at Denver International Airport during a heavy windstorm in March of 2007.  He had probably been blown into one of the large concourse windows with such force that it ruptured part of the lens in his left eye, and also sustained damage to the retina. He is now blind in that eye, but does have some iris movement and contraction.  In Colorado, burrowing owls are often seen near prairie dog colonies where they occupy vacant tunnels and raise their families.

Our short-eared owl was found in Nebraska in late 2003 with a closed fracture of his left humerus.  The wing was pinned, but didn't heal well enough to allow for complete flight recovery.  He lives with our Long-Eared Owl, seen at the bottom of this page.

This Eastern Screech owl was hit by a car in Fall 2004, which resulted in severe fractures at his left wrist.  Because circulation was impacted, the outermost or "hand" portion of his wing constricted, eventually self-amputating.  Though he cannot fly, he maneuvers around his special pen very well, and likes to sit up as high as possible.

This beautiful owl was hit by a car  December 21, 2003 and his right wrist was broken leaving him incapable flight.  He is housed with our Short-Eared Owl.

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