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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 7h

This adorkable Boreal Owl was named "Pärlan" after Pärluggla meaning Pearl Owl i.e. the Swedish ID of the species, for the white spots on the owl's back. FSO in Sweden temporarily captured the owl for banding / scientific research. Source: sormlandsornitologerna.se/fso2/Arkivet... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Boreal Owl is pouched inside a red velvet draw-string bag. He looks about the size of a baseball and half the weight. He has black whiskery feathers around his honey-yellow beak like eyelash extensions that were glued in the wrong spot. There's ashy white plumage around his face, and white tear-drop flecks upon brown feathers radiating across his crown and sides. He stares up at the handler with yellow eyes, wide and surprised, with a look that backs the oft-said claim that "owls are cat software with bird hardware."

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

14th of Owltober! A Great Grey Owl had a guarded prognosis after hit by car, shoulder fractures and eye trauma, but ate well and gradually recovered in care at Think Wild Central Oregon. Want to donate to TWCO? www.thinkwildco.org/donate/ Source: fb.com/828361799324... #owlsintowels #owltober 💛🦉

A Great Grey Owl is draped in a white towel in a clinical setting. A vet tech in royal blue scrubs holds the owl behind, while another clinician reaches over the owl's pronounced facial disk with a black glove to inspect feathers the way someone might stretch their arm over the backrest of a park bench. GGOW's eyes seem to be mismatched: one is amber and the other pale yellow, which might be due to the lighting, or a sign of eye damage. A single talon pokes up from a mess of feathers around the torso, looking like the owl is flipping the bird, so to speak, and I can't decipher what arrangement of feet would even make that possible (thankfully it's not due to the injury). The owl's stance points left of frame, and though strigiform eyes have very little movement in their sockets, this individual is doing a great job of giving side-eye to camera.

Upon rescue, the GGOW is perched on the passenger seat of a car looking at the photographer with astonishment. Red light from the stereo/radio unit bathes the owl and car interior with a pink glow on otherwise cold tones of blue and grey.

Four Panel photo of the GGOW being released:

Top left: A baseball-capped human opens an owl-laden box to a grassy field with pines in the distance. The owl's head appears at the exit looking back at the former captor, as if to say, "Is this a trick?"

Top right: The Great Grey Owl is in flight looking like a M117 demolition bomb, but one with feathers and self-propulsion. The background is a blur of green pine as if painted by an impressionist.

Bottom left: The owl flies low to the ground with wings outstretched, doing their best imitation of sideways Tasmania.

Bottom right: The owl stands in an open field, yellow eyes looking back to the release party. There's some white plumage on the owl's neckline with a square of black in the middle, like a reverse priest's collar. The owl looks at ease back in the wild.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

13th of Owltober! Charlie Gilmour discovered two Little Owls in a few short weeks. Re: the first he said "This beautiful idiot fell down the chimney like some sort of strigine santa bringing the gift of himself." First photo credit POLLY SAMPSON. Source: instagram.com/p/CReNTPWsNUK #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Little Owl is brightly lit indoors like a chiaroscuro painting, reclined within the half-wrap of a blue shirt with white stripes and held aloft by Charlie Gilmour. I'm assuming the fabric is a shirt because Charlie is topless in the uncropped photo, but that evidences nothing. The owl's feet are raised and head is turned to face camera with the wide-eyed look of a politician caught in a cheating scandal. The background is out of focus and indistinct, with colours of tangerine and deep burnt sienna.

A Little Owl is wrapped in a denim blue coloured towel with white pinstripes, before an eggshell pink and alabaster curtain with floral embroidery. The owl has short feathers across the head, with a few longer whiskers about the beak. He looks at camera from a tilted head with pale moon-yellow eyes, accented by black eyelids which give bold definition to a small face.

The Little Owl is released outdoors: he's a motion-blurred silhouette of feathers against a clear blue twilight sky. The setting is rural, with tall trees and hedges in the distance. Nearer to the fore are red roses and a hammock suspended between the trunks of small trees. Hands are raised holding the now empty blue fabric that contained the owl.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

12th of Owltober! A Short-Eared Burritowl (a.k.a. Patient no. 26-532) was admitted to Bird Treatment and Learning Center last week. He or she is still with the clinic and the prognosis is hopeful. Want to donate to Bird TLC? www.birdtlc.org/donate Source: (sent in) #owlsintowels #owltober 💛🦉

Pictured from above is a Short-Eared Owl wrapped in a tight and thick pink-grey towel like an upside-down turban. His/her pupils look upwards, dilated, with crescents of yellow left and right. A lion's mane of tan and brown chin feathers overhang the wrap, and between the eyes is a cream mask in the shape of a rabbit's head 🐰 (with an owl beak where the rabbit's face would be). Also, sighted people tell me if I'm wrong - it might be the non-angular brow shape, or it could be some kind of reverse imprinting - but SEOWs somehow always look placid, as if they are incapable of expressing anger. A wild animal yes, but one must ask: “If not friend, why friend shaped?”

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

11th of Owltober! This Powerful Owl was paralysed on admission but was soon perching and flying thanks to care from Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre Eumundi (a satellite of RSPCA Queensland) in Australia. Want to donate? supportrspcaqld.org.au/donate Source: fb.com/475969127083... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Powerful Owl is wrapped to the chin in a coriander towel, looking like a large egg shaped burrito. From top of said burrito a wide beak and pair of amber eyes emerge with a blank expression - innocent and curious. The bundle of owl has not a hint of malice at being sat on the lap of the light denim shorts-clad rehabilitator taking the photo. Her chin feathers look a little pink, from a recent meal perhaps. The beak is slate black with a cere (the fleshy membrane at the top of bird beaks) the colour of beeswax. Her facial feathers form a white X with white streaks radiating from her forehead on plumage that is otherwise muted brown to licorice black. Behind is a bark chip floor next to the green wall of a prefab sheet metal shed.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

10th of Owltober! This Great Horned Owl was admitted to West Sound Wildlife Shelter after being trapped in bird netting. His expression says it all. Want to donate to WSWS? westsoundwildlife.org/donate Source: fb.com/243452475656... #owlsintowels #owltober 💛🦉

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

9th of Owltober! A little Boobook Owl had some unusual injuries but was reported as bright, recovering well, and full of life after care at Boobook Wildlife Shelter in Victoria, Australia. BWS accepts donations to the account no. on their fb page. Source: fb.com/202387785775... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

It's a close up of an Australian Boobook, cloaked in a pale mauve towel. She looks square at camera with an expression of shock common for her species, with eyes dark grey-green like moonlit eucalyptus leaves. Brown and caramel feathers coat her head, with a white mask between the eyes shaped like an X, or silhouette of a polar bear rug, except instead of the head of a bear it's the beak of an owl. If anything, it looks like the head of a 17th century plague doctor with bird nostrils for eyes. Beyond that particular detail, the owl is really cute.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

8th of Owltober! Found on a busy road, this tiny Saw-whet Owl was scooped up for treatment at JLS Wildlife Hospital in Ithica, NY. After testing and rehab he was determined OK for release. Want to donate to JLS? www.vet.cornell.edu/giving/ways-... Source: fb.com/279924138530... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Saw-Whet Owl is wrapped in a cosy seafoam coloured garment, looking towards camera with rich sunflower yellow eyes twinkling from a trio of reflected ceiling lights. A syringe of fluid is administered to his open beak by a human wearing lavender nitrile gloves. It's possible he has the barest hint of a scowl in response to the fluids, but it might just be a stray black feather or two, making it look like a raised bottom eyelid. He's a little pink around the maw, probably from his latest meal of diced + defrosted animal treats, being the little carnivore that he is.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

7th of Owltober! A glimpse BTS at South Island Wildlife Hospital in Chch, NZ. "Although bursting with beautiful birds and passionate people, [SIWH] runs on donations and the smell of an oily rag" Want to donate? www.wildlifehospital.co.nz/help-us/ Source: 1news.co.nz/2023/10/26/s... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

This Little Owl in both name and nature is wrapped in a cornflower blue tea towel on a white table.

She's held secure by eight fingers belonging to a reporter in a pink top and black jacket. The owl's black pupils reflect tube lights, and her irises and beak are matching limoncello yellow. They're in alignment due to the low camera angle and the owl's lifted chin, which accentuates a look of immense suspicion at the photographer: bombastic down-the-beak eye. From this vantage too, the owl's black rictal bristles look like short steep-angled eyebrows. The rest of the owl's feathers are dark brown, cream-streaked, and masked around the eyes, with bunching around the quote-unquote "jawline", like sideburns.

Small stature + sideburns + black & yellow accents = Owlverine

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

6th of Owltober! While examining 'Snowy' the Snowy Owl for injuries, staff at Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Canada couldn't help but take a picture. And we're all glad they did. Want to donate to WWS? woodlandswildlifesanctuary.ca/donate Source: fb.com/260048249491... #owlsintowels #owltober 💛🦉

"Snowy" the Snowy Owl is on their back partially wrapped in a white towel looking up at camera with eyes bright yellow + slightly crossed. The half-open mouth on Snowy, or on any beaked animal for that matter, kind of makes it look like they're smiling - due to the consummate V's of the upper and lower beak forming a happy arrowhead shape "⮟". The reality of course is Snowy is likely very agitated, vocal, and causing a scene. Such is wildlife work. Snowy's feathers are white, save for some bow-shaped bars across the chest, as if someone tried drawing roof tiles with a black pen. If I'm not mistaken these marking indicate Snowy is female. Snowy also has very thick white 'moustache' of rictal bristles, which as the original caption says adds to a look of "adorable fierceness!"

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

5th of Owltober! Long-Eared Owlet "Ginette" had surgery for a broken wing, with metal pins placed to stabilise the fracture. Clinic Erminea in Switzerland reported she was doing well. Link to donate to Erminea: erminea.org/index.php?na... Source: fb.com/299762959379... #owlsintowels #owltober💛🦉

Arranged in a nest shape is a dusty-burnt-orange towel (in colour only; the cloth is untarnished by earth or flame). Within that nest is a Long-Eared Owl chick draped in a juvenile coat entirely made of ashy-white feathers, with the exception of a bat-shaped mask of brownish-black around her eyes. On the topic of eyes, they're bright orange, like buoyancy rings, around pupils as wide as saucers.

An x-ray output (post-surgery) shows a long thin metal rod stabilising the bébé owl's humerus. The metalwork is bright white compared to the rest of the owl's skeleton, glowing pale green on a dark background. The owl's bone structure is surprisingly small, illustrating that owls are 99% fluff. A few dozen feathers are radiodense, likely due to having blood supply as they grow, and so the spines appear bright and rather like fish bones or wide-tooth combs. A cone mask for the anaesthesia is placed around the owl's head. The text "Gauche" appears below the pinned wing which might seem odd commentary from the radiographers, had one not just learned the French word for "Left".

Back in the visible spectrum, the Long-Eared Owlet rests on red and orange towels inside a dark-walled container, peering up at whomever is peering down. A pink gauze wrap with purple splotches is around her now pinned Guache wing. She appears startled, and her buoyancy-ring eyes look more lemon than orange in this light.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

4th of Owltober! Coda the Eastern Screech Owl, an ambassador at BeWild Reptile Rescue in North Carolina, is pictured shortly before getting his beak trimmed with the help of summer interns. Want to donate to BeWild? bewildnc.org/support-us/ Source: fb.com/752793290801... #owlsintowels #owltober 💛🦉

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

3rd of Owltober! An Australian Boobook at South Oakleigh Wildlife Shelter fell victim to an attack from a mob of Magpies. A reminder to take care around nesting Magpies this season, be you feathered or not! Want to donate to SOWS? sows.org.au/donate via: fb.com/833886482101... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Boobook looks positively terrified... mortified... petrified... stupefied. Which is fair dinkum for any Magpie victim, but then again, it may just be RBF (Resting Boobook Face). Regardless, this owl has a shocked expression and mismatched pupils, with a pair of wide eyes the hue of a dark forest floor, or a kiwifruit that's gone a bit soft past its prime. She's wrapped in a blue tea towel which, along with her brown plumage, collects wayward strands of grass and leaf litter. Her feathers are the same tone as Chewbacca's fur, though not quite as long. In a word: Boobookiee.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

2nd of Owltober! It's ten years to the day that this lil guy, a Northern Pygmy Owl, had surgery for a broken wing. The op was possible thanks to supporters of Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah. Want to donate to WRCNU? wrcnu.org/donate Source: fb.com/128878567450... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Lurking in the folds of a soft blue towel is a Northern Pygmy Owl. One eye is covered by the towel's herringbone stitch; the other peers out at the clinic and its occupants with a level of distrust appropriate for a wild animal. A deep blue bandage is located at the owl's shoulders, reminiscent of a heart-shaped diamond. It's worth noting the photo is rotated - the original has the owl upon a corkboard surface, lying on his/her side like Rose Dawson, but with more clothes. This is a reference to a nude scene in Titanic (1997) played by seven-time Oscar nominee Kate Wins-owlet.

This image has 3 horizontal panels: Panel one shows the patient (same owl + same towel) receiving anaesthesia gas via a transparent cone-shaped mask with a tube out the top. Text to the right reads "naptime". Panel two is an x-ray of the owl's wing with an arrow pointing to the biggest bone. Text in red says "break in right wing humerus" but I don't think it's very funny. Panel three shows the operation. The vet surgeon wears white medical gloves and wields metallic tools aimed at a hole in a plastic sheet covering the patient. A text block reads "not for the squeamish!" and occludes the grisly details.

Twin vertical panels show similar profiles of the Pygmy Owl held aloft for the camera. The owl is a scaled-down rugby ball in shape, and has dark royal-green gauze wrapping the wing injury. The owl's feathers are muted brown with lighter tan-to-cream streaks on the face and flecks on the forehead and chest. These flecks are like tiny trees, or symbols in a map legend for wetlands ( 𐠮 𐠮 𐠮 ). At bottom of frame the owl's feet are lightly pinched about the ankle by human fingers. Bunches of pale yellow appendages also known as "toes" emerge from said feet, looking like aglet-sized bananas with the world's tiniest scythe blades attached. The owl's face says, "Don't make me use them."

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

1st of Owltober Four weeks after a critical head injury this Great Horned Owl showed huge signs of improvement thanks to expert care from the team at Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Ontario, CA. Want to donate to SOH? www.shadesofhope.ca/donate.html Source: fb.com/121487677400... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

Draped in a vanilla towel before a wall of wood panels painted mossy sage, a Great Horned Owl stares at camera with wide yellow eyes. The owl's chest plumage is tabby-patterned and calico-toned in shades of black white and ginger. The ear-like tufts for which the species is named are raised at 11 and 1 o'clock. They're mostly black, with tan highlights along the inside track, giving the impression of Unicode character U+223 (ȣ) much like the symbol for Taurus the bull. The owl expresses a photogenic sort of anger, and like a bull, looks ready to impale any who come near.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Researchers wrap tiny Saw-Whet Owls in cloth bags to keep them calm. Linked story is about a grassroots banding project by All About Birds / Cornell Lab of Ornithology: allaboutbirds.org/news/a-grass... Want to donate to Cornell Lab? give.birds.cornell.edu Photos: CHRIS LINDER 💛🦉 #owlsintowels

A Saw-Whet Owl is pouched in a cotton draw-string bag in the hands of a bander. She looks directly at camera with eyes yellow and wide: one eye lit from above-left, the other occluded in shadow. Feathers are muted brown with streaks of cream-white radiating from the eyes. The pouch is white with light blue stripes like the Uruguayan flag (1828-1830). In the background atop a wooden desk and out of focus is a chart with bars of yellow - likely for registering the hue of each banded owl's eyes as part of the migration research.

Three identical pouches are strung from a horizontal cord, affixed with wooden clothes pegs like garments on a washing line. The pouches, I think it's safe to assume, are laden with one Saw-Whet Owl each. Some trust has been placed in the springs of the pegs, given that these little goobers typically weigh around 80 grams or 2.8 ounces. For reference that's the weight of a very small banana, or a hefty lemon, but those things rarely try to escape once put in a bag.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The toes on this Great Horned Owl were swollen and infected from an entanglement of some kind. Rehabilitators at Red Wolf Sanctuary gave him daily spas with Epsom bath salts to help his recovery. Want to donate RWS? www.redwolf.org/general-dona... Source: fb.com/346353914373... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Great Horned Owl is neck deep in water in a stainless steel mixing bowl, with a navy blue towel draped over his back. The camera is looking down into the bowl from an oblique angle, and the owl cranes his head up to flash his buttercup yellow eyes. His expression however is anything but buttery. Nay, it one of immense rage on the brink of manifesting in unspeakable acts of violence.

Out of the mixing bowl and into the hands of the Red Wolf rehabilitator (pictured behind, wearing a pomegranate-red tee), the owl continues his look of fury at the camera. Wet plumage on his chest is matted and scraggly, while his plumicorn feathers (a.k.a. 'horns') are slicked back and to the sides, with a few flyaway feathers pointing left and right like he's the titular character of 'Hey Arnold!'. The rehabber holds the owl's ankles and points his toes and talons at camera for easier inspection. The pink pads on the owl's feet match the marshmallow towel in which he is partially wrapped.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

An orphaned Eurasian Eagle-Owl chick was dehydrated on admission to GREFA Wildlife Rescue Center in Madrid, Spain. Special care & diet will help him grow until he is ready to return to the wild. Want to donate to GREFA? grefa.org/socios-y-pad... Source: instagram.com/p/DVYzi5DjPfG #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A young Eurasian Eagle-Owl is partially wrapped in and supine upon a towel patterned butter-yellow and white. His head is turned to face the rehabilitator off-camera, who wears white nitrile gloves, and pinches the owl's ankles between fingers to keep him immobile for treatment. With luck this will also keep the carer safe from the sharp talons spread anisodactyl like a trio of upholstery needles bottom of frame.

The youngster now looks directly at camera, with beak and bright lava-orange eyes wide open, expressing alarm. He's covered in ashy-white fuzz typical of nestlings, and could be mistaken for either very cute dryer lint, or strawberries after 24 hrs in the fridge.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Stories like this Great Horned Owl being rescued from a vehicle grill happen approx once a year at Ojai Raptor Center. He broke his fibula but remarkably is expected to fully recover. Want to donate to ORC? www.ojairaptorcenter.org/donate Source: fb.com/569108992446... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

This Great Horned Owl is big mad. Plumicorns? Up. Brow? Furrowed. Pupils? The size of dinner plates. He is half-wrapped in a cream blanket, which combined with thick leathery gloves on his torso means the rehabilitator (behind in a light-blue polymer medical gown) is partially protected from the owl's wrath. It cannot be overstated how angry the owl looks.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

A Ruru luckily sustained no major injuries after hitting a window, and began flight training after just 10 days of rehab. To donate to Wildbase Hospital click foundation.massey.ac.nz/donate-online and select Wildbase Research Fund under Designation. Source: fb.com/151915092357... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Ruru / Morepork is an exemplary owl in a towel, wrapped in plain white fabric like a burrito, except instead of rice, beans and salad you get a live bird. His/her eyes are the colour of rich amber, looking alert and slightly left of camera. Feathers are brown like a medium roast coffee, with accents of cream and caramel around the forehead and chest. Reflected in the owl's pupils are a trio of ceiling lights: bands of light that narrow with perspective and appear arched due to the curvature of the owl's eyes, which altogether makes them look like WiFi symbols 🛜v🛜.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

A short clip of a Snowy Owl being inspected for injuries at Wild North in Northern Alberta 🇨🇦. Want to donate to Wild North? wildnorth.ca/support/dona... Source: fb.com/reel/1238805... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

A Great Horned Owl was trapped in barbed wire and tired from the struggle. Blackland Prairie Raptor Center gave a thorough examination and will monitor and re-bandage wounds while the owl heals. Want to donate to BPRC? bpraptorcenter.org/donate/ Source: fb.com/138667023682... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Great Horned Owl is cloaked and hooded in a pink red towel with frayed-edges. One plumicorn is covered by the hood and the other is half-raised, askew, and partially obstructed by the towel. Eyes are yellow with a tinge of green, like the skin of an unripe mango, under the awning of a thin white brow in the shape of two tilde '~~' characters placed back-to-back. A rehabilitator restrains the owl with a thick glove. The owl expresses an ill temper, aimed squarely at camera.

Same photo as before, except now a band of long pink fibres from the towel is flopped across one eye of the owl, while the other eye is semi-depressed by the hood. The result is "Dreamworks Face", as best described by TVTropes: "You know that face. The clever, asymmetrical smirk. The similarly crooked eyebrows. The intense stare-down that comes at you from the promotional movie posters - especially for CG family films. It's the expression that tells you the hero is going to be up to no good, and is much cooler than any of those classic, mainstream, conformist wimps those *other* studios produce."

From a little further back, this photo gives a wider view of the clinical setting. The owl is supine on a stainless steel exam table. The hood of the pink-red towel fully covers the owl's head (to reduce stress) and a second towel is laid flat for cushioning. One worker holds the owl's ankles to prevent those powerful black talons from tearing holes in equipment, people. A second pair of blurple-gloved hands hold the owl's wing and treat injuries with a cotton swab.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

A nestling Barred Owl was found without a nest. The owl was otherwise healthy and eating well, and sent to a nearby shelter to bond with another owlet. Want to donate to Raindancer Wild Bird Rescue? www.raindancerwildbirdrescue.org/donate.html Source: fb.com/172627046075... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Barred Owl nestling is snug in the folds of a white towel inside a cardboard box. The owl is pictured from above, craning her neck upwards to face camera with an "are you my mother" type expression. Her beak is pale pink and yellow like a ghostly tequila sunrise in reverse. Eyes are black and feathers fluffy, tipped with white fuzz like a fungus... but cuter.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Kaikōura Wildlife Centre Trust posted a number of Little Owls admitted for injuries due to nest fall, cat predation and vehicle strike. Little Owls were introduced to New Zealand in 1906. Want to donate to KWCT? www.kaikourawildlifetrust.org/help-us Source: fb.com/105041082044... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

This owl's pale yellow features (beak and eyes) are contrasted with the lavender purple towel that ensconses her. Only her head is visible, the rest of the owl is nestled in the hollow of the donut-shaped wrap. The ends of the towel meet at the other end like a horseshoe, or an inverted uppercase Omega "℧". The silhouette of the photographer is reflected in the owl's black pupils.

From the markings on the owl's beak and feathers, and overall discerning expression, this appears to be the same Little Owl as the previous photo, at a slightly closer depth of field. This time she is wrapped in an off-white towel, worn like a religious head scarf, beak and eyes still visible; still judging.

With chest feathers a'scraggle in hues of light brown and cream, this Little Owl is lain supine atop a plain white towel. The look in the owl's eyes is a little seductive, as if to say "draw me like one of your French owls"

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Before and after, 7 days apart. Rescued by a keen-eyed driver, this car-hit Australian Boobook was soon given an assessment, meds and time to rest before release. Want to donate to Mosswood Wildlife? mosswoodwildlife.org.au/donate Source: fb.com/147448698471... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

With eyes so wide they're practically popping out of their sockets, the same Boobook is once more wrapped in a towel in a clinical setting. This time the cloth is decorated with white stripes and alternating bars of pastel yellow, magenta and cyan, the latter of which is wrapped in a black double helix like it's the Rod of Asclepius. Fitting, given it symbolises health and renewal, and this owl looks both healthy and renewed (and extremely alert).

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

An endangered Short-Eared Owl was found in a ditch with a fractured wing. Vets at Cornell's Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital helped with the owl's recovery and eventual return to the wild. Want to donate to JLS? www.vet.cornell.edu/giving/ways-... Source: fb.com/864914120031... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Short-Eared Owl is lain upon a white towel folded and formed in the shape of a donut. Her body sits in the hollow, and head is raised with lemon-yellow eyes fixed on the camera: bright rings around wide black pupils. Her beak is slightly open, and if she had eyebrows they'd be raised. She has an overall appearance of shock, somewhere between fright and delight. Feathers are brunette with streaks of blonde, and those around the chin and neck are ruffled by the towel - they overhang the crest of the donut and almost give the impression the owl has a beard. A blue bandage wraps a wing to the side.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Not all owls on the ground need help! This young Long-Eared Owl was thought to have fallen from the nest, but was in fact a fledgling learning to fly. More info about this one at: owlsintowels.org/flight-test-... via u/bl00dspilled at reddit.com/r/Owls/comme... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A young Long-Eared Owl - mistakable for a Jim Henson muppet - is wrapped in a pale slate-blue microfibre towel, above a grassy setting. Two hands hold the bundle of owl in the exact fashion someone might hold a burger between bites.

Snapped from over-the-shoulder, the fledgling peers up at camera with orange eyes like undersized lifebuoys. Now pocketed inside the towel and flattened to the captor's chest - and continuing the food theme from before - he looks more like calzone than burger.

In this view the owl is cloaked in the towel. He sports feathers grey and brown, coated in a fine ashy-white fuzz typical of a fledgling. His chest feathers are matted and scraggly. His beak appears large, disproportionately so, but he will grow into it. His expression is vacant - he holds in his eyes not a hint of malice, wrath, nor bloodlust. Not yet. We will watch his career with great interest.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

A Cape Eagle-Owl was admitted to Johannesburg Wildlife Vet for a wrist injury. After rest, physiotherapy and flight testing he was banded and released back whence he came. Want to donate? www.johannesburgwildlifevet.com/make-a-donat... Source: fb.com/401532551848... #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇿🇦

An orange-eyed owl wears a purple towel like a thick-collared winter coat. The rehabilitator behind wears a blue nylon tee and holds the rugby ball sized bundle of bird with fanned fingers that meet mid-torso, thumbs obscured. The owl rotates his head a touch, watching someone or something left of frame. His plumicorns are tall and V-shaped toward the beak, complemented by an angled brow that gives an expression of subdued rage.

Sans towel, the owl is now shackled at the feet by the rehabber's clenched hand, and held in the other at a 45 degree angle, the way one might wield a cudgel or a tennis racket. Heretofore unseen is the injured wing, wrapped with cyan gauze and affixed with pink elastic plaster. Also on display is the owl's full plumage in shades of dark brown and mottled with patches of tan and white. The owl looks directly at the camera with eyes W-I-D-E. The rage from the previous photo is no longer subdued.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

An Austalian Boobook at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital was pictured in a news article saying the facility struggles to source steady income, meanwhile patient numbers surge. Donate to CWH at currumbinsanctuary.com.au/wildlife-hos... Source: goldcoastbulletin.com.au/190b1acf2eef... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A grouchy looking Boobook is wrapped in a thick white towel, held by a rehabber wearing a stethoscope over teal scrubs. Her mossy olive green eyes (the owl, not the rehabber) are dilated and crossed, under a white-accented brow in the shape of an angry boomerang, amongst feathers that are otherwise brown and tan.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Eastern Barn Owl "Willy" was found seriously underweight but is now rehydrated and on solid food thanks to care at Boobook Wildlife Shelter 🇦🇺 For those willing and able BWS accepts donations to bank acc. listed on their fb page fb.com/boobookwildl... Source: fb.com/313079971372... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Barn Owl gazes at the camera with a pair of almond-shaped black eyes. The fine white feathers around his face have natural crevices, forming a V shape from the inside corner of each eye and converging at the tip of his pinkish-white beak. It's like a lowercase q and p were conjoined at the tail, and angling towards 11 and 1 o'clock. He appears wise, draped in a sage towel as if posing for a royal portrait.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

This Screech Owl was left unable to fly due to (sadly) some very ignorant human activity. Thankfully, rescuers took him to wildlife experts at Owl Whisperer so his feathers can grow back. Donation link: owlwhispererws.wixsite.com/owl-whispere... Source: instagram.com/p/DYewkLqEc_V #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇵🇦

Yellow eyes peer out from a ball of grey fuzz: a Screech Owl, wrapped neatly in a plain white towel. The close-up makes the towel textures stand out as soft bristles cast in light and shadow, as it does the owl's feathers. The rehabilitator's thumb and forefinger hold the towel in a C-shape bottom left of frame.

The owl's wing feathers are splayed out on a tabletop like a fan, showing how the feathers were clipped. It appears the primary wing feathers were cut by a third or more.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Two branching GHOWs were grounded and had to be re-nested. Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre posted: "After a thorough check, and a few good meals, they were ready to return home." Want to donate to OVWBCC? www.wildbirdcarecentre.org/donate Source: fb.com/860422619451... #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇨🇦

A Great Horned Owlet is contained in a vanilla pillow case. The case colour matches his/her fuzzy fledgling feathers, like frosted tips on plumage that is otherwise tan, brown and black. The setting is a forest floor: an orange climbing rope is coiled below with brown pine needles and leaf litter strewn about.

A second owlet appears. The pair of GHOWs are perched fore and aft on a branch in a brightly-lit enclosure. The owls' silhouettes blend with the off-white wooden trellis walls behind, making it hard to make out the horns for which the species is named (i.e. the tufts of feathers that ostensibly look like ears). The tufts are only short round nubbins at this early life stage. Any excuse to use the word nubbin, really.

Close up of one of the owlets, with pale yellow eyes and mouth agape trying to exclaim in owl-speak "back off strange bear!"

Shot from afar, one of the owlets is centre of frame, perched high in a pine tree. Ottawa Valley WBCC reported the parent owls excitedly welcomed the owls back within an hour of them returning to the tree.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

A Barred Owl was wrapped in a towel for a final round of roundworm meds, and self-feeding which is always a great sign of progress, at Congress of the Birds, Rhode Island. Want to donate? congressofthebirds.org#GETINVOLVED Source: instagram.com/p/DFz87n4xpCJ #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A towel-wrapped Barred Owl is held by a rehabber wearing a pair of semi-transparent gloves. At least, I hope they're gloves or this person has no fingernails. The owl's feathers are an ashy mix of brown and white, eyes are black, and beak is yellow the tone of aged cheddar. The towel is patterned in broad stripes of white and brick-red. Though it should be noted, the redness of the brick usually depends on the clay whence it was fired, so for the sake of geographical agnosticism, let's call it a shade between persimmon and vermilion. Persimilion perhaps?

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Peaches the Masked Owl has cleared a recent infection thanks to the teams at Raptor Refuge and Wildlife Recovery Australia. She’s active again and perching with her boyfriend Patches. Want to donate to RR? raptorrefuge.com.au/make-a-donat... Source: fb.com/reel/2056207... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

I Was Sprayed by a Skunk! 🦨💨 This Great Horned Owl was temporarily blinded but thanks to multiple baths at South Plains Wildlife Rehab was cleared for release. Want to donate to South Plains? spwrc.org/donate Source: fb.com/166453610695... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Great Horned Owl is wrapped in a peach towel, the hood of which is seated behind his/her plumicorns; feather tufts that looks like ears and in this case are pointed up and a little matted. In addition to the towel, the owl wears an expression of malcontent, amplified by extra wide pupils and a steep angled brow. Unhand me human or my wrath will be swift.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

This little extra terrestrial 👽 is a Collared Scops Owl at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. We don't have intake info but we know they're exceptionally cute. Congrats to WFFT for 25 years! Want to donate? wfft.org/donate Source: fb.com/101527363704... #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇹🇭

A young Collared Scops Owl is wrapped in a vanilla towel. She has large black eyes like a pair of obsidian walnuts.

A close up of our friend, with a cut of pinkish white meat in her beak. We get more detail of her black eyes reflecting the ceiling lights, her pink-lined eyelids, and her feathers in shades of black brown and white, with no easily discernible pattern except a hint of concentric stripes.

The rehabilitator holds the bundle of owl in towel steady with their left hand, while their right emerges from bottom frame to deliver a morsel of meat to the young owl.

The E.T. owl is cloaked in the towel, still, and has her feet raised with talons ready to slice and/or puncture any who dare get close. She has a tiny chunk of food remaining on the tip of her beak.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

A Spotted Eagle-Owl with unusually heavy feather fraying and a lice infestation is recovering at African Raptor Centre until a full moult restores flight. Image courtesy of ARC africanraptor.com via fb.com/135338077682... #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇿🇦

A Spotted Eagle-Owl is wrapped in a plain cornflower blue towel. His flattened "ear" tufts and ovoid shape gives him the silhouette of a rugby ball with a tricorne. And with mouth open, tongue raised and head tilted slightly back, his expression could easily be associated with laughter, but if we're honest, that should be prefixed by "mans". Either way the rehabber is about to bear the brunt of it.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

A Great Horned Owl at MARS Wildlife Rescue models how rehabilitators weigh larger birds by safely wrapping them in a towel and placing them claws-up in a box. Want to donate to MARS? marswildliferescue.com/donate-funds/ Source: instagram.com/p/DDcbsQXPGHv #owlsintowels 💛🦉 🇨🇦

A Great Horned Owl is wrapped in a loose burrito of beige towel. Her ear tufts are flat, making her head look particularly rounded. Her top eyelids are lowered a little, and she has a prominent brow, accented by light brown feathers, giving her yellow eyes an overall perturbed yet stern expression. One pupil is dilated more than the other, which (fun fact!) is something owls can do independently, allowing them to control the amount of light each eye receives.

A pair of fuzzy owl feet are bunched together and talons curled-inwards, rising up and out from a bundle of towel. The rest of the owl is obscured, so it's just feet, emerging from a white polystyrene box on a set of electronic scales.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Rescued after a car strike, this Eastern Screech Owl is resting up for a few weeks of TLC before heading back to treetop snuggles with his lifelong mate. Want to donate to Sweetbriar Nature Center? sweetbriarnc.org/how-can-i-he... Source: instagram.com/p/DVZSNpYEp7y/ #owlsintowels 💛🦉

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Rehabilitators at Erminea in Switzerland treated a Long-Eared Owl with a dislocated coracoid, posting that they were doing everything they could to get him back on his feet. Want to donate to Erminea? erminea.org/index.php?na... Source: fb.com/761827339368... #owlsintowels 💛🦉🇨🇭

A pair of lava-lamp-orange eyes are the highlight of this Long-Eared Owl's face, brighter in tone than the coral orange towel in which he is wrapped. The namesake 'ears' of his species are rabbit-like, curving outwards, but lacking fur and cartilage; they are feathers after all. His real ears are at eye-level, obscured by feathers (and cotton). His beak and eyes are open: slightly and very, respectively. A complete look of indignation.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

A road-rescued Boobook is Burrito'd by rehabber Josh who notes "No wing damage, just a rough day and a bit stunned. Looking bright enough to give the wild another crack." To donate to Josh Neille (On Ya!) visit thewombatguy.com.au/make-a-donat... Source: instagram.com/p/DVB_MlCktGv/ #owlsintowels 💛🦉

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Red Wolf Sanctuary posted this Eastern Screech Owl with the caption: "This towel is warm. I was just fed. My face is still messy. Red Wolf is taking great care of me. I'm gonna take a nap now." Want to donate to RWS? redwolf.org/general-dona... Source: fb.com/102603184628... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A gray-morph Eastern Screech Owl has eyes like golden kiwifruit. Her feathers fuzzily fluctuate between shades of ashy white and black granite. She's wrapped in a white towel, or, it would be white if not for the spillage of contents from her most recent meal; a mess of mouse juice soaking across her beak, chin bristles, and towel. Culinary etiquette aside, she's cute as a button.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

This Burrowing Owl had 3 surgeries following severe barbed-wire injuries. Thankfully Ojai Raptor Center gave a bright prognosis saying "he/she is looking good for recovery and release!" Want to donate to Ojai Raptor Center? ojairaptorcenter.org/donate Source: fb.com/333877986956... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A bright-eyed BUOW, or Burrowing Owl if you're not into the whole brevity thing, is wrapped in a baby blue fabric, held in the thick-gloved hand of a rehabilitator. The owl's eyes are lemon yellow, and his/her plumage is white across the eyebrows and chin, and tan to dark brown everywhere else, featuring light speckles across the forehead. The wrap forms a high upturned collar like Dracula. Dracowla? Draculowl? We'll keep working on that.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

This Screech Owl injured his leg quite badly after getting it wedged in the gap of a tree. Thankfully there was no fracture and the rehabilitators at Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge expected he would recover. Want to donate? hobbitstee.com/donate.php Source: fb.com/103529687864... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A grey, black and white Screech Owl with the faintest tinges of tan here and there, is cloaked in a white towel. The most colourful part of the photo is the blue bandage around his right leg. His plumicorns (raised tufts that look like ears) are at full mast, and his talons are clenched. His eyes are grey-green, dilated, and express a sentiment best described as nope-nope-not-happy.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

"Just the back and sides, please." Photo: ANNIE MARIE MUSSELMAN www.anniemusselman.com Original text: "a rescued Northern Saw-whet Owl at a wildlife rehab center near Seattle where I worked and photographed for 7 years.❤️❤️❤️" Source: instagram.com/p/B9-VpQOg1a1/ #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Saw-whet Owl is wrapped in a textured vanilla towel, held upright by the spread digits of a rehabilitator in aqua-blue scrubs. The owl's eyes are dilated, and lids relaxed, giving an expression of sedate nonchalance. Irises appear as half rings of cadmium yellow. The shape of the wrap is trapezoidal (a wrapezoid?), or in 3D a frustum, which combined with the owl's feathery orb of a head makes an outline like a chess pawn, or an old-timey keyhole. Or a patron at the barber.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

What Big Eyes You Have! A Place Called Hope (Center for Birds of Prey) posted this Great Horned Owl with the caption "Owl In A Towel…Don’t know HOO started this trend but… here ya go!" Want to donate to APCH? aplacecalledhoperaptors.com/donate-today/ Source: fb.com/821693210428... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A close-up of a Great Horned Owl wrapped in a vanilla-beige towel and held by a rehabber with thick black gloves. The owl has distinct rictal bristles around her graphite-black beak, and bulbous eyes, lemon yellow in the brightly lit indoor setting. Her top eyelids are 90% open, but the slight droop gives the impression that she is tired or forlorn. Her plumage is barred across the chest, alternating dark-brown and white, with sporadic bursts of caramel.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

A Little Owl was rescued after falling down a chimney. South Essex Wildlife Hospital reported he was "dirty and dehydrated but soon on his way back home". Want to donate to SEWH? southessexwildlife.org/donate Source: fb.com/555952912555... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A Little Owl is bundled in a baby blue towel on a table with an expression of malcontent. His eyes are squinted and slightly crossed, and match his waxy yellow beak in colour. He appears chinless, recessing his head into his body; eyes at the same level as his shoulders and squashed as though someone had tried resizing him in a Word document and forgot to lock the aspect ratio.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Iain McGregor captures this adorable shot of a Ruru/Morepork being cared for at Christchurch's South Island Wildlife Hospital in Episode Two of the stuff.co.nz series 'This Is How It Ends'.⁠ Want to donate to SIWH? wildlifehospital.co.nz/help-us/ Source: instagram.com/p/CVwzuBIMn-n/ #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A close-up of a Ruru / Morepork. A fluorescent tube light is reflected in each of her big round shiny eyes; black pupils ringed by irises of honey-yellow. She is wrapped in a light lavender-blue fabric with what looks to be a very soft material and stitch pattern. The Ruru's feathers are dark brown with streaks of tan, and an X-shaped bridge of cream above the beak and between her anime-character eyes.

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Owls in Towels @owls-in-towels.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

How to Burrito an Owl A guide by @barnowltrust.bsky.social shows how to wrap owls like burritos so they can be more easily be examined, treated and fed by a wildlife carer. More detail at owlsintowels.org/how-to-wrap-... Donate to Barn Owl Trust barnowltrust.org.uk/support-us/d... #owlsintowels 💛🦉

A grid of photos 3 by 3 showing the steps to wrap an owl in a towel. It starts with our model Barn Owl face-down, legs straight on a flat folded towel on a tabletop, and ends with the rehabilitator sitting on a stool with a perfect burritowl wedged securely between their knees. The benefit of this procedure is the rehabber now has both hands free to administer fluids, food, and medication.

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