Owls in North America

Birds of prey in general are much more popular in European zoos than in American zoos. Over here only a few native species are common in zoos at all. I think this is due to Europe's rich history with falconry.

Birds of prey are almost nonexistent in private collections over here. There's a few species around but almost all of them are in very low numbers.

 

They are popular, but we rely on mostly common native species. Even the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, which does reach TX, is so far absent. We have lots of raptor centers, but they're basically holding for unreleasable birds rather than specialty collections. I'm not aware of any specialist owl centers in North America at all sadly. The private trade in birds of prey/owls is pretty low. Very few species around outside of falconers, who again are mostly using natives. @birdsandbats may be right that it's centered around the long history of falconry in Europe.
As a whole specialist bird facilities are very few in North America. Two come to mind, Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy, and Emerald Forest Bird Gardens which specializes in toucans and is more of a specialist/private breeder combo.

 

Depending on your definition of "specialist", you could include Sylvan Heights Bird Park in that as well; they concentrate exclusively on birds and primarily on waterfowl.

 

Gabbert’s Raptor Center could be considered a specialist facility. Most of there animals are rescues, and there rarest species (the Boreal Owl) appears to have died, they still have a sizable raptor collection.

 

They might still be around in Arizona too, assuming the border wall hasn't been too hard on them.

 

Strange that no northern hawk owl is kept in NA, because it is native and reasonably common in Europe.

Even stranger is that great grey owl is rare, because it is arguably the most attractive owl and nowadays one of the most popular in European zoos.

BTW, owls are something of a lost opportunity for zoos. There are many globally endangered owls which could be good for conservation breeding. Owls generally thrive and breed very well in human care, and are attractive for the public.

 

Dallas has Verreaux’s eagle, Eurasian eagle, and spectacled owls.

Cameron Park has barred, barn, eastern screech, and great horned owls.

 

Northern Hawk-Owl and Great Gray Owl are of course both native but very rare. As most owls in North American zoos are rescues, they don't show up very often.

 

UOTE="Jurek7, post: 1356144, member: 502"]Strange that no northern hawk owl is kept in NA, because it is native and reasonably common in Europe.

Even stranger is that great grey owl is rare, because it is arguably the most attractive owl and nowadays one of the most popular in European zoos.

BTW, owls are something of a lost opportunity for zoos. There are many globally endangered owls which could be good for conservation breeding. Owls generally thrive and breed very well in human care, and are attractive for the public.[/QUOTE]
I think Northern hawk owls are kept somewhere in Minnesota.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg has European barn owl and Eurasian eagle-owl

 

World Bird Sanctuary keeps Northern Hawk-Owl and Short-eared Owl.

 

International Owl Center has Great-Horned Owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Barn Owl, & Eastern Screech Owl

Zollman Zoo has Northern Saw-Wheat Owl

 

Scovill has eastern screech owls, they may still have their great horned owl, but I didn’t see it during my last visit.

 

Wildlife Science Center has Great-Horned Owl, Barred Owl, & Eastern Screech Owl.

 

Elmwood Park Zoo has a Great Horned Owl.

Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge has a Barred Owl, Eastern Screech Owls, Great Horned Owls, and a Short-eared Owl.

Conservancy of Southwest Florida has a Barred Owl.

 

Lake Superior Zoo has Barn Owl & (maybe) Eastern Screech Owl behind the scenes

 

El Paso Zoo also now has Western Screech Owl

 

Quarry Hill Nature Center apparently has Northern Saw-Wheat Owl & Eastern Screech Owl.

 

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary recently obtained two Barn Owls.

 

Tracy Aviary has: Western Screech-Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, Burrowing Owl, Long-eared Owl, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Milky Eagle Owl, and Spectacled Owl

 

Marshy Point Nature Center in Maryland has Great horned owl, Barred owl, and Barn owl