Eastern Screech Owl

Poor thing

Great to hear he's doing fine.

Yay! Great story...finally!! Hope to hear more about him! Thanks for sticking with it! I'd love you to add this to the mission Raptors of North America: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8627...
You may also be interested in Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/9974...

Well I'm SO glad somebody finally got back to you! It's a shame it took them so long! You would think in FL with the amount of wild birds you all have there would be a number of rehab facilities to choose from! You did all the right things, hopefully the facility will do their part now!

Well done @ChrisPope!
And thanks @J. and @Daniele Pralong :)

I see you have found him a safe rehabilitator. Thanks for the update!

Hi Chris! Here is a wildlife sanctuary for owls quite close to where you spotted this beauty in Ocala, Florida. Here is a link:
http://givingahoot.org
Here is their contact.
http://givingahoot.org/contact-us/
(352) 732 – 6844

I finally got in touch with another rehab place near by that has taken him in for care. So here's hoping he makes it through.

I don't know how wildlife centers work there, but in my country it's illegal to hold a wild animal at home, police can intervene and press charges against you...There must be someone, a bird specialist, a volunteer group, even in another city, somewhere you could send the bird, in Florida, who could take care of it! I can't believe there's no one available! What happens in to all these wild rare animals wich need treatment?

Lefty, that's what I've started calling him, survived another night. Couldn't get in contact with maitland for transport. The only other place in town is a animal attraction theme park, which is basically a fancy zoo, and they won't give the best of care or would just put him down. So I called a college that has a zoo and does animal medicine and surgeries, to the north of me an they passed me off to someone else! Getting kind of tired of no one wanting to take him. So I'm looking into what I would have to do to get my own license to solve the problem!

Thank you dear @ChrisPope, great news by the way :)

The owl survived the night. I'm still waiting to hear back. I probably haven't heard back yet because of the time I called. The gentlemen I talked to from the place here told me what to do for the owl for the night and to call him if he got worse. So far there's no real change, he'll move around from time to time, which I try and minimize if I can because all he does is flop around awkwardly and I don't want him to injure himself further. I'll keep you guys updated and I know more. I'm hoping to hear back some time this morning.

I'm afraid, he is declining (I hope it's the' right word), I've seeing that before, and the bird is probably reaching a critical point...I can tell you what we were doing in such cases in the wildlife centre I was a volunteer, but still, even if everything was correctly done, survival was not granted...
Call them again and again, and in the meantime, be prepared that the bird might pass away (wich is not your fault...Things like this, happen all the time, only the 3% of the injured/sick animals are rescued, the rest 97% it's the unlucky animals wich were never found.)

Hard to say, it's usually not a good thing. We want owls to be afraid of us and want to get away from us, that is normal behavior. If he is being cuddly with you, its probably just due to the head trauma. He doesn't know what's going on. Have the rehab facility gotten back to you yet? Can you transport the owl? I'm really surprised they haven't given you direction!

He's getting more cuddly, is that good or bad?

Ooh, poor baby! Sounds like a possible head trauma with the head ticking. You are doing all the right things Chris! At least he is safe and as comfortable as possible until they can transport him! He's lucky you found him!

Thank you for the info, I decided not to feed him since he should be going to a rehab place soon. It looks like his left wing is injured and he's been having trouble holding his head up, it keeps twisting involuntarily to the left, the same side of his possible injury. I'm still waiting to hear back from the rehab place about the transfer. So far the owl seems ok he's not moving a whole lot and its still having some bowel movements. I'm just doing what I can to keep its stress down and keep it calm and comfortable.

I volunteer at a raptor rehab facility here in CO. It's best not to give any food or water until you can get him to a facility. If he is suffering from starvation a meal, even a small one, can cause his system to go septic, which he could die from. Owls can go for some time without food, he should be alright! Poor guy, I hope he makes it! Almost looks like he has a spinal injury the way he is laying! Please keep us posted!

Update: I've heard back from the rehab place that specializes with owls. They are under renovations at the moment and can't take any new owls, they are contacting another center to see about transferring him there.

Will do! I'm hoping he makes it too. I'm going to make up some liquid food an see if he won't eat some.

Yes, could you please update, if possible?
Thanks :)

let us know how he does!

I hope he'll make it! Good job, dear @ChrisPope!

It is injured. I found it at work. I've called the owl rehab place here where I live and I'm waiting to hear back. The injuries don't seem to be sever or major.

It doesn't look very well, is it hurt?