Owls in Towels

An amber-eyed Saw-Whet Owl is contained in a draw-string pouch with a green and white zigzag pattern. On the table behind and out of focus is a pair of red handles, most likely belonging to a banding tool used for attaching a metal bracelet to the owl's foot. Researchers assign each band a unique code to help study species movements, migration and population estimates. The bands are lightweight and do not impact the owl's natural day-to-day living.

Blue Ridge Audubon recently awarded a grant to study Northern Saw-whet Owl migration in the Appalachian Mountains. Funding will provide GPS+radio tags to help track this secretive forest species. Want to donate? blueridgeaudubon.org/donate Source: instagram.com/p/DSYbKGojVDH/ #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Burrowing Owl is wrapped in a brick orange towel, facing the camera with a curious expression. He has wide pupils ringed by sunflower yellow irises, framed by plumage of brown and ashy white. The pattern is in spots across the forehead and bars across the chest. His feet are turned to the side and raised, claws outstretched like it's thriller night. An unseen hand is holding him from behind, or he would probably not be upright for the photo.

A Burrowing Owl was evacuated shortly before hurricane Milton flooded CROW campus in Sanibel, FL. The wildlife hospital continued triage at a temp site until the waters receded and power was restored. Want to donate to CROW? crowclinic.org/support-crow Source: fb.com/106815280135... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Slightly larger than a golf ball is the white fluffy head of a Great Horned Owlet emerging from the folds of an off-white towel. His beak is too large for him, and seems to comprise half his total body weight. His eyes are black and half shut, with the slightest tinge of pink on the eyelids. He's just a wittle baby.

Panel one: a blue plastic washing basket is prepared like a forbidden salad: a bed of pine needles filled with wood shavings. Yum. Panel two: The makeshift nest is secured to a tree with yellow and blue bungee cords around the branches and trunk. Panel three: Close-up of the owlet lifted by the rehabber standing on a ladder in white coveralls. One hand is black-gloved, the other bare, together cradling the fluffy cargo and delivering him to his totally normal and not weird nest.

A windswept baby owl received a check-up and a new nest at Wildside Rehabilitation and Education in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. Mother owl returned to the nest within 2 hours. Want to donate to Wildside? wildsidemi.org/wishlist Source: fb.com/964374065884... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A bundle of Tawny Owl is wrapped in a green towel.

Six more bundles of tawny-toned owls boasting streaks of cream and dark brown from their rufous plumage. Each has a pale yellow beak and closed eyes, and is wrapped in a towel that is plausibly the same model varying from dark teal to faded forest green depending on the lighting.

Believe it or not, these are all different owls

Seven Tawny Owls rescued in the same year and cared for by Stephanie Callister-Jarrold at Owls and Birds of Prey, UK 🇬🇧 Want to donate to their cause? owlsandbirdsofpreyrescue.co.uk/funding #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Captured in bright indoor lighting before a hessian pin board, a Great Horned Owl with wide-eyes and wet-plumage is cloaked in a white cloth. Spiked feathers radiate from his head in all directions, like a hairy durian, accentuating his look of shock and indignation. We may have found the true paragon of Owls in Towels.

A Moist Owlette is freshly showered at Owl Park San Vigilio, a zoological park in northern Italy 🇮🇹 via fb.com/816647270688... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A young Ruru Morepork is wrapped in a tea towel and placed inside a salad bowl so it may be weighed by the rehabilitators at Wellington Zoo.

We have superb owls AND regular bowls!

A gray-morph Screech Owl has a scrunkly face, with pale olive green irises barely visible through scrumched-up eyes. His plumicorns are very cat-like. He's in a hem-less lavender towel, held by a rehabilitator in soft focus behind wearing a minty green top.

Another #SuperbOwl for you this Sunday, this one from New England was freed from a chimney cavity and needed an eye wash from all the soot. A good reminder to install chimney caps!
Want to donate to New England Wildlife Center? newildlife.org/donate/ Source: fb.com/451341887540... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Barred Owl is wrapped in a pristine white fabric. The rehabber wears thick mustard yellow gloves that extend to the elbows, with flowers printed on the forearm. One hand holds the owl's legs, the other pulls the top of the wrap back like a wedding veil, to reveal the beautiful bride inside. Do you take this owl? I hoo.

A #SuperbOwl for you this Sunday, from near Seattle WA Found on the ground and taken in. "After some medication and a stomach full of food, his fire has started coming back."
Want to donate to West Sound Wildlife Shelter? westsoundwildlife.org/donate Source: fb.com/973183951512... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

An intense stare from this young yellow-eyed Ruru in a blue towel tells us he has seen Some Stuff.

A grid of four shots of the Ruru after a bath, looking thoroughly bedraggled in a blue towel. His Sid Vicious plumage is blackened by the wetness, and parted on the chest to expose skin like uncooked turkey. Feathers are matted and shrink-wrapped to his bone structure, and yet he's still cute as a button. A Cronenbergian horror with Disney eyes. The final panel shows him post-blow-dry and resuming his original puffy shape, like a feathery butternut squash.

Fluffy and at ease, the Ruru is perched on a branch in an indoor aviary, casting a shadow on the white wall behind. His chest plumage is mesmerising - wavy lines in tones of cream, tan, and roasted coffee brown. He's looking MUCH better, ready for release.

What a Transformation 🛁
After careful treatment for flaky skin this Ruru / Morepork was readied for release, thanks to coordinated efforts by Wellington Zoo wellingtonzoo.com/support-us/d... and Wildbase Recovery wildbaserecovery.co.nz/help-us/donate Source: fb.com/101585508645... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Bonus video:

A Northern Hawk Owl wears a watermelon pink towel and a stern expression. His head is wide and oblate, sporting pale beeswax yellow eyes that match his beak, and feathers in shades of lunar rock and obsidian. His face is punctuated with black markings in the shape of harps - curved around the eyes, rising to peaks at the temples, and flanked by thick pillars where the sideburns should be. The rehabber holds him in a purple glove.

From discombobulated on admission, to vocal and feisty on release, this Northern Hawk Owl at Bird TLC returned to the skies with a clean bill of health. Want to donate to Bird Treatment and Learning Center? birdtlc.org/donate Source: fb.com/961444549357... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

In colours of cocoa, coffee and creamy mascarpone, this Australian Boobook looks like a tiramisu, although she probably doesn't taste like one. Tiramisu is Italian for "pick me up", appropriate since the owl was found on the ground and unable to fly away; a clear sign of needing help. She's wrapped in a pale blue fabric and has green eyes fixed on the camera. As the original post says, she has some remaining fluffy down on the back of her head.

An Australian Boobook fledgling was found severely underweight and with parasites. Boobook Wildlife Shelter later posted she was looking much better and recovering well in rehab. Source: fb.com/638579802156... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Rehabilitator Chris Thomison holds on his lap a GHOW with brilliant yellow eyes. The vanilla towel is wrapped like a cloak, with one corner folded at the middle like a half collar. The owl's plumicorns are erect, brow is furrowed, and upper eyelids are lowered about 30%, giving an overall look of immense scorn. He is plotting the demise of all involved.

A Great Horned Owl at Owl Ridge Raptor Center, Tennessee posted with the caption "Someone did not want to take their medicine and therefore, must be placed in the burrito of towel. He was thrilled." Want to donate to ORRC? owlridge.org/ways-to-donate Source: fb.com/101623875111... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Barn Owl is wrapped in a steel blue towel, and held at the ankles by a rehabilitator. The owl's feet are in grab n' stab mode, with talons on one foot outstretched, the other in a ball. For now the human is unpunctured.

One of the patients at Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital – a beautiful Barn Owl and "not just a sight to behold; they play a crucial role in our ecosystem by controlling rodent populations" Want to donate to BBWH? byronbaywildlifehospital.org/donate Source: fb.com/801122605510... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Screech Owl with supremely bombastic stink eye is wrapped at the armpits in a minty white towel, wings akimbo. Her olive-grey eyes, one a half moon, the other a crescent, match her beak in colour. The faintest outline of "ear" tufts appear on her fuzzy silhouette, before a plain yellow-green background the tone of under-ripe avocado.

A hatch-year Eastern Screech Owl recovering from a window strike. Wings Wildlife posted her with many other birds of prey, urging to help resupply stocks of frozen rats and mice. Want to donate to Wings Wildlife? wingswildlifecentre.com/donate Source: fb.com/833227389002... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Long-Eared Owl is burrito-wrapped in a pine-green towel, held by the thick-gloved hand of a rehabilitator indoors. The owl assays the photographer with expressive yellow eyes. The plumicorns, or "ear tufts" for which the species is so named, are curved like feathery scimitars, with one a tad taller than the other. These tufts are not truly ears (their ears are actually located at the sides of their head, at eye level and concealed). Rather, the tufts are large prominent feathers, and it's not super definitive what they're for, but biologists suggest they help communicate mood and intent to other owls. The tufts are blackish-brown with tawny edges, whereas the owl's facial feathers are a prominent flash of mostly cream and ginger.

The LEOW rests on two towels, green and white, layered in a donut / horseshoe shape. The patient is located inside a large incubator labelled "BIRD BROODER 90", a machine for controlling oxygen, heat and humidity. It is about as long as a shipping container is wide, with a clear hatchback door behind which the owl watches the photographer, head turned to the side.

A close-up crop of the Long-eared Owl resting on the green towel, being given the best possible care one could hope for.

A Long-eared Owl at Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in NJ. Sadly he succumbed to injuries from vehicle strike. Stories like his, though not having the desired outcome, are an important reality of wildlife rehabilitation work. To donate to Cedar Run visit cedarrun.org/get-involved... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Striped Owl is swaddled inside a slate navy fabric in the crook of the arm of the homeowner/occupant. The owl's feathers are mostly pale brown with tinges of ginger to the top and sides, and dark stripes all about. Her plumicorns are round and floppy like a pair of ears, almost cat- or bear-like in appearance. She has a pronounced black edge around her facial disk, inside which sits an expression hard to read behind eyes of deep dark brown.

"So, an owl got into my parent's house" u/Ojierda posted on r/aww. The Striped Owl in southern Brazil was wrapped up - no apparent injuries but "it did make a mess" they said. "After a little while they calmed it down" before releasing outside. Source: reddit.com/r/aww/commen... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

GHOW 1 is in a vanilla towel, head recoiled in a state of stern disapproval at the photographer.

GHOW 2 is a youngster with fuzzy feathers like the fleece of a muppet. He's in a white towel, stained a little near the beak, probably from his latest meal.

GHOW 3 is double wrapped - wearing a white inner sheet surrounded by an outer pink towel, as well as an expression that says "I will tolerate this if you continue feeding me microwaved mice".

Three Owls in Orange County

Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center sent these gorgeous pics of Great Horned Owls patients, referring to them as their "problem children". Aren't they great? For those who wish to donate to WWCC visit wwccoc.org/donate.html #owlsintowels 💛🦉

The season’s first orphaned Ruru was admitted to Birdcare Aotearoa's nursery. BCA says with food, rest, and flight practice this feisty youngster can be released in a safe location.
Want to donate? birdcareaotearoa.org.nz/donate/ Video source: instagram.com/p/DR-9wwck0OQ #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇳🇿

Angry yellow eyes on this Great Horned Owl are accentuated by the V-shape of his brow stretching from the tips of his plumicorns to his nostrils. He's burrito-wrapped in a vanilla towel, held by a rehabilitator with blue gloves. The towel covers the tip of his beak, and lifts a tuft of feathers to the back. It cannot be overstated how mad he looks.

Lighting has a dramatic effect on the GHOW's appearance. His pupils are much smaller, contracted in the brighter setting, and his expression far calmer compared to the previous photo, despite being fundamentally the same. Make no mistake, he's still plotting murder. He's not wearing a towel here, and we see the yellow mesh of the soccer net that got him into this situation wrapped around his left wing.

The incident in question. The goal frame is on its side amid piles of autumn leaves before a white paling fence. The GHOW stares violently at the camera as the rescuer holds him by the legs. His wing and back feathers are ensnared in the strands of green-yellow mesh that has been cut free from the main net. He does not look remotely thankful.

Great Horned Owl tangled in a soccer net. No fractures but heavy swelling in soft tissues due to struggling. Congress of the Birds advises "Taking nets down when not in use can prevent these injuries." Want to donate? www.congressofthebirds.org Source: fb.com/102301306190... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Luna the Spectacled Owl is wrapped like a torpedo at Belize Raptor Center. Luna's encased in a bright seafoam green towel on top of a second towel, aqua blue, folded upon a bed of polished floorboards next to a rotary grinding tool. A microwave sits behind. Luna's eyes are olive green and looking squarely at the camera, unimpressed. The "spectacles" of her species' namesake are white, in stark contrast to her black plumage. The spectacles are more akin to a pair of greater than '>' and less than '<' symbols that don't quite meet in the middle. Her chin feathers, also white, look a little like a beard.

A slightly different angle of Luna. Interestingly, owl beaks keep growing. Their talons too, and just like human hair and fingernails, they need the occasional trim. In the wild this excess growth tends to exfoliate naturally when they're out hunting and scavenging, picking meat from bones etc. But in captivity? Owls (and other birds of prey) work a little less hard for their food. Less wear and tear means the keratin builds up, and growth is spurred along by nutrient-rich diets. So carers often use tools to trim and shape (aka "cope") their beaks to maintain proper function and health for the birds. The brand-agnostic rotary tool in the foreground is one such coping instrument.

If looks could kill, we'd all be dead right now.

Luna the Spectacled Owl is the resident matriarch raptor at Belize Raptor Center, going on 30 years wise. Here she's wrapped so the carers can trim her beak as it had "gotten a bit too long." Want to donate to BRC? belizeraptorcenter.org/donate/ Source: sent in #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇧🇿

If it’s any reassurance, Saw-whets are nomadic and so aren’t tied to a particular habitat. NatGeo quotes Ellen as saying “They don’t have a favourite tree. They exhaust the food source and move on”

Interesting side fact: Saw-whets also find a new mate each season

‘Twas the month before xmas in upstate New York, when Ellen Kalish had a curious talk. “Can you help with a bird?” asked the voice on the phone, “Yes we can,” Ellen said in a welcoming tone. The caller explained that her husband found loose an owl on the branch of a Norwegian Spruce. But this tree? ‘Twas uncommon, no ordinary stock. ‘Twas picked for a place. And that place? 30 Rock! [Rocky the Northern Saw-whet Owl is snugly wrapped in an orange knitted scarf held by Ellen Kalish at Ravensbeard Wildlife Center]

Rocky the Owl was a surprise stowaway in a giant spruce tree transported from upstate NY to 30 Rock Plaza. The owl was rescued by a worker and rehabilitated by Ellen at Ravensbeard. More at owlsintowels.org/rocky-the-xm... Want to donate to RWC? givebutter.com/ravensbeard-... #owlsintowels 💛🦉🎄

Morley is wrapped in an astroturf-green towel, held by Judy out of frame on a forest pathway. In the full video, Morely nibbles angrily at the towel and the footage cross-fades to a close-up of his face, somewhat less-agitated and with a better view of his alert green-yellow eyes. The final shots are him in slow-motion departing the confines of the towel. He takes flight to a tall bank of vegetation in the mid distance - flapping eagerly over the heads of onlookers, returning to the wilderness where he will spend the rest of his days.

Morley the Morepork is released by Judy Fentress, of Judy's Bird Nursery at The Sculpture Park along the Waitakaruru Stream in the Waikato region NZ. Full video: youtu.be/vU1-EmBnCA4 #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇳🇿

Important correction: Judy's nursery is still operating but at a limited capacity: "I am no longer taking garden birds, only natives now. That's all that has changed. I need help and money and someone joining me to do something like this. It requires a DOC permit and a lot of time and energy"

A juvenile Ruru / Morepork still has his baby fluff - thin wisps of white feathers around his head that make him look like an old man. His eyes are wide, yellow, and lacking any thought behind them. Some darker markings above look like raised eyebrows, as if he's especially shocked by the featherless bipeds around him. He's wrapped in a blue tea towel, held to the chest of Judy the rehabilitator behind.

Another Morepork / Ruru being cared for by Judy Fentress. This one is very young and still has his baby fluff. Judy was featured in a Department of Conservation (DOC) blogpost celebrating her years of dedication to New Zealand native birds: blog.doc.govt.nz/2023/04/11/j... #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇳🇿

Bonus video of Judy releasing a Ruru at Sculpture Park along the Waitakaruru Stream (which incidentally means 'owl by the river') sculpturepark.co.nz

Close-up of a Ruru's face wrapped in a coral pink towel. His eyes are yellow, wide and bulging. The photographer's hand is reflected in one pupil. The owl's chin feathers are a little matted, possibly from his latest meal. His beak is a pale olive-grey and looks like a miniature archetype of the plague doctor, but with nostrils for eyes.

After decades of dedicated service, Judy's Bird Nursery in the Waikato region of NZ is closing operations. A huge thanks to Judy Fentress for her extraordinary and invaluable work helping native birds. Pictured is a Ruru in a towel by u/NewZealandDunc i.redd.it/4m2og4cw1i3g... #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇳🇿

The photographer says it's for determining the owl's age:
"Under the soft glow of a black light, the owls’ feathers reveal a hidden secret: a pigment that shines bright pink. The younger the owl, the more vibrant the glow. As they age, the pink slowly fades. It’s a breathtaking thing to witness."