this post was submitted on 03 Mar 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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No real updates on the owl itself or why it's orange. It must be eating though if it hasn't been caught or moved on. Still wishing you the best of luck, unique frosty one!
Erythrism?
Could be, but it looks like it was blasted with some sort of paint while roosting somewhere.You can see the "shadows" where the feathers overlapped and seemingly blocked it.
Looking at the other pictures, it definitely looks like some sort of spray...
That's the theory in running with. Kinda like something hit it from a top/right angle. It's all on the back side and stronger in the right of the face.
There's talk about it being some stress or environmental trigger, but I haven't come across anything to support it. Nothing like this has been observed before in a Snowy. There just nothing really to go on yet.
I should think getting blasted by a spray painter would be pretty stressful!
When it was first reported, there were two comments I thought significant. The first was that the coloring matched pretty well what would have been exposed had she been roosting - it wasn't consistent on the feathers, but mostly the edges.
Second, didn't someone say the state confirmed that it looks like the dye they put in the washing solution for under-bridges? Something like that.
I do recall a rust inhibitor comment, but I haven't heard any "oh yeah we did first a bridge with orange stuff around that time.". Also heard some theories about aviation deicer, but again, nothing after the original statement.
I would think there could only be so many things that could dye a bird for over a month that are orange, and the people using it would say, "hey that must be this!"
We'll know after she molts. I can believe any "temporary" dye could be effectively permanent on something as porous as feathers.
It's clearly not paint, though, and with any luck not toxic for her when she preens.
I will say, it certainly made her striking!
It's definitely one of a kind and has maybe people fascinated!