From World Bird Sanctuary

Eastern Screech Owl 24-627 came to our hospital after being struck by a vehicle. They were suffering from severe head and ocular trauma and had sustained a fracture to their left radius. The ocular trauma ended up resulting in one of their eyes developing a temporarily unusual appearance.

The left eye initially had a large amount of interior hemorrhage, which initially presented as a red discoloration. As the blood started to diffuse, the eye turned green as a result of the pigment interaction. The right conditions for an eye to turn green are rarely met, as it is dependent on the location/amount of blood present, the iris color, and other factors. Despite ocular trauma affecting over 1/3 our patients, we only have 1-2/year turn green.

After 2 weeks of care, 627’s eye has returned to its normal color, though the trauma is still limiting vision from it. The radius fracture is also healing well so far. It is still too early to tell if 627 will recover enough to be released, and they will need at least another month of care before we can assess if the fracture or vision impairment will affect their ability to survive in the wild.

I feel bad for this little one’s situation of course, but in a medical science way, this is very fascinating to see. It is a very beautiful color. I am glad it’s starting to get better though!