Champion of Owls Award
Scott Rashid, Colorado USA
Scott Rashid is the founder and director of the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute (CARRI). He has spent 27 years in the Rocky Mountains working with owls and will receive the 2025 World Owl Hall of Fame Champion of Owls Award for his work.
Rashid documented the first Flammulated and Boreal Owl nests in Rocky Mountain National Park. He also monitors nests of Barn, Northern Pygmy-, Northern Saw-whet, Eastern Screech-, and Great Horned Owls and has installed over 150 nest boxes in Colorado plus 10 in Texas. He designed a larger Barn Owl box that helps prevent mortality of owlets due to crowding.
Over 1,400 owls of 10 species have been banded by Rashid, including 553 Barn Owls from his nest boxes and 461 Northern Saw-whet Owls. He incorporates public education programs with his Barn, Northern Saw-whet and Boreal Owl banding efforts to give people an unforgettable up-close experience.
He employs live cams on nests to better study breeding behavior of Great Horned and Barn Owls and shares their intimate details with the world via livestreaming. In a single 24-hour period 56,000 households from 38 countries watched his livestreams.
Education is a key part of Rashid’s repertoire. He has delivered hundreds of educational presentations focused on several different owl species, primarily in Colorado, but also in Texas and Arizona. He has a number of popular and scientific articles to his name, and has published in Colorado Birds, Bird Watcher’s Digest, and the American Birding Association’s Birder’s Guide to Conservation and Community. He also authored five books about owls, illustrated with his own beautiful artwork and photographs.
Due to need in the area, Rashid also wound up becoming a bird rehabilitator, including helping many owls.
Truly, Scott Rashid is a champion of owls.
Scott Rashid, Colorado USA
Scott Rashid is the founder and director of the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute (CARRI). He has spent 27 years in the Rocky Mountains working with owls and will receive the 2025 World Owl Hall of Fame Champion of Owls Award for his work.
Rashid documented the first Flammulated and Boreal Owl nests in Rocky Mountain National Park. He also monitors nests of Barn, Northern Pygmy-, Northern Saw-whet, Eastern Screech-, and Great Horned Owls and has installed over 150 nest boxes in Colorado plus 10 in Texas. He designed a larger Barn Owl box that helps prevent mortality of owlets due to crowding.
Over 1,400 owls of 10 species have been banded by Rashid, including 553 Barn Owls from his nest boxes and 461 Northern Saw-whet Owls. He incorporates public education programs with his Barn, Northern Saw-whet and Boreal Owl banding efforts to give people an unforgettable up-close experience.
He employs live cams on nests to better study breeding behavior of Great Horned and Barn Owls and shares their intimate details with the world via livestreaming. In a single 24-hour period 56,000 households from 38 countries watched his livestreams.
Education is a key part of Rashid’s repertoire. He has delivered hundreds of educational presentations focused on several different owl species, primarily in Colorado, but also in Texas and Arizona. He has a number of popular and scientific articles to his name, and has published in Colorado Birds, Bird Watcher’s Digest, and the American Birding Association’s Birder’s Guide to Conservation and Community. He also authored five books about owls, illustrated with his own beautiful artwork and photographs.
Due to need in the area, Rashid also wound up becoming a bird rehabilitator, including helping many owls.
Truly, Scott Rashid is a champion of owls.
Special Achievement Award
Rudolf Schaaf, Germany
The World Owl Hall of Fame has honored Rudolf Schaaf with a Special Achievement Award for his more than 30 years of dedication to the publication of international owl research, conservation and cultural aspects.
Rudolf Schaaf, from Ludwigsburg, Germany, is a member of a group committed to the protection of various owl species and their habitats: The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Eulenschutz im Landkreis Ludwigsburg (AGE; owl protection and research group, part of the Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU e. V.)). The AGE’s goal is to deepen the understanding of all aspects of owls and promote their research and protection.
Rudolf Schaaf founded the KAUZBRIEF magazine in 1992. The 37 issues published to date aim to interest as many readers as possible in the latest owl research and conservation. All aspects of the owl-human relationship are also highlighted to engage a larger readership, such as Greek and Roman mythology, the owl in Christianity, owls in art, the owl as a bird of misfortune and death, and much more. “Owls educate” and “Owls take me around the world” are comments from AGE members.
The AGE focuses on the protection of Barn Owls, Little Owls and other owl species. This includes habitat work, such as planting fruit trees, building and installing nest boxes and working with farmers to introduce owl-friendly farming practices. They also give grants to support research and conservation projects, and welcome applications to fund projects.
KAUZBRIEF is sent free of charge to universities conducting owl research, as well as to members of the AGE and other owl-friendly groups. Each issue is published in a print run of one thousand copies.
For more information on the work of this group and past issues of KAUZBRIEF, visit www.ag-eulenschutz.de or https://www.ag-eulenschutz.de/home/english.
Rudolf Schaaf, Germany
The World Owl Hall of Fame has honored Rudolf Schaaf with a Special Achievement Award for his more than 30 years of dedication to the publication of international owl research, conservation and cultural aspects.
Rudolf Schaaf, from Ludwigsburg, Germany, is a member of a group committed to the protection of various owl species and their habitats: The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Eulenschutz im Landkreis Ludwigsburg (AGE; owl protection and research group, part of the Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU e. V.)). The AGE’s goal is to deepen the understanding of all aspects of owls and promote their research and protection.
Rudolf Schaaf founded the KAUZBRIEF magazine in 1992. The 37 issues published to date aim to interest as many readers as possible in the latest owl research and conservation. All aspects of the owl-human relationship are also highlighted to engage a larger readership, such as Greek and Roman mythology, the owl in Christianity, owls in art, the owl as a bird of misfortune and death, and much more. “Owls educate” and “Owls take me around the world” are comments from AGE members.
The AGE focuses on the protection of Barn Owls, Little Owls and other owl species. This includes habitat work, such as planting fruit trees, building and installing nest boxes and working with farmers to introduce owl-friendly farming practices. They also give grants to support research and conservation projects, and welcome applications to fund projects.
KAUZBRIEF is sent free of charge to universities conducting owl research, as well as to members of the AGE and other owl-friendly groups. Each issue is published in a print run of one thousand copies.
For more information on the work of this group and past issues of KAUZBRIEF, visit www.ag-eulenschutz.de or https://www.ag-eulenschutz.de/home/english.
The 2025 international festival of owls is made possible by:
Major Sponsors
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Houston Public Schools
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Bob Kierlin and Mary Burrichter
● Elizabeth Callender King Foundation |
$1,000 Great Gray Owl Enthusiasts
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$500 Great Horned Owl Advocates
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$250 Barred Owl Contributors
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Houston Lions
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$100 Screech Owl Supporters
Bluff Country Financial Services ● Caledonia Veterinary Clinic ● Houston Dental Clinic ● Houston Hoedown Days ● JT's Bar & Grill ● Money Creek Haven ● Mound Prairie Mutual Insurance ● The Sawmill Inn ● The Wen Inn
Bluff Country Financial Services ● Caledonia Veterinary Clinic ● Houston Dental Clinic ● Houston Hoedown Days ● JT's Bar & Grill ● Money Creek Haven ● Mound Prairie Mutual Insurance ● The Sawmill Inn ● The Wen Inn
The International Festival of Owls would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors.
Please contact us for information on having your business or organization become a sponsor, and please patronize our sponsors.
Many thanks are due to our prize donors and the army of volunteers that make this event possible.
Please contact us for information on having your business or organization become a sponsor, and please patronize our sponsors.
Many thanks are due to our prize donors and the army of volunteers that make this event possible.