One evening, while one of our team members was out watching birds and quietly hoping to spot an owl, he ended up in a conversation he didn’t expect. A 15 year old, just as curious about birds, joined him. They talked about sightings, favorite species, and all the usual things bird lovers get excited about. Then the kid asked something completely out of the blue which famous people have actually kept owls as pets.
And honestly, he didn’t have a clear answer.
That question stuck with us more than we expected.
We all admire owls, but when you really think about it, how many people in history have actually lived with one? Not many and even fewer cases are properly documented. Still, there are a few real stories. Florence Nightingale cared for a small owl named Athena, Pablo Picasso kept one in his studio, and naturalist Gerald Durrell raised owls while studying them closely.
So we decided to look into it properly. This article brings together six real, well supported examples of people who didn’t just admire owls, but made space for them in their lives.
1. Florence Nightingale and Her Owl Athena
Florence Nightingale is one of the clearest and most reliable examples when it comes to owls being kept as companions.
During the Crimean War, she came across a small owl being mistreated in a market. She rescued it and named it Athena. What makes this story memorable is not just the rescue, but what followed. The owl stayed close to her, and several historical accounts mention Athena sitting quietly beside her while she worked.
There’s something quietly powerful about that image. Long nights, wounded soldiers, constant pressure and in the middle of it, a small owl resting nearby. It wasn’t for show. It was simply part of her life.
2. Pablo Picasso and His Owl Ubu
Picasso didn’t plan to have an owl. It happened by chance.
The owl, later named Ubu, was found injured by photographer Roland Penrose and given to Picasso. Instead of sending it elsewhere, Picasso kept it in his studio.
And that’s where it stayed. The owl moved freely around the space while he worked, surrounded by canvases, tools, and half-finished ideas. It became part of his everyday environment in a very natural way.
There’s no dramatic story here, and that’s what makes it feel real. The owl wasn’t treated like something special. It just quietly existed alongside him.
3. Gerald Durrell and the Owls He Raised
Gerald Durrell’s connection with owls came from curiosity, but it didn’t stay that way.
As a young naturalist, he kept and raised different animals, including owls, long before he became known for conservation work. In his writings, especially My Family and Other Animals, he describes these experiences in a way that feels both honest and personal.
The owls he raised were not distant subjects. They were part of his daily routine. He observed them closely, learned from them, and at times clearly formed attachments.
With Durrell, you get the sense that he wasn’t trying to “own” animals. He was trying to understand them, and that naturally brought them closer into his life.
4. Frederick II and His Study of Birds
Frederick II lived in the 13th century, and his interest in birds was far ahead of his time.
He wrote De Arte Venandi cum Avibus, a detailed work on birds and falconry. While most people focus on his work with hunting birds, his observations also included species like owls.
He kept birds in order to study their behavior closely, which meant living around them and watching them over time. It wasn’t companionship in the modern sense, but it was still a rare kind of closeness.
At a time when owls were often surrounded by superstition, he chose to observe them carefully instead.
5. Charles Waterton and His Life Among Animals
Charles Waterton didn’t separate himself from nature. He lived right in the middle of it.
He created one of the first private nature reserves in England and spent much of his life surrounded by animals. Birds, including owls, were part of that environment.
What makes Waterton interesting is how normal this seemed to him. He didn’t treat animals as distant or untouchable. If they were around, they were part of his daily life.
It wasn’t about ownership. It was about sharing space, which is probably the closest most people have ever come to living with owls.
6. Walter Rothschild and His Animal Collection
Walter Rothschild’s approach was on a completely different scale.
He built a massive private collection of animals at his estate, including birds from around the world. Owls were among them, kept as part of his broader interest in zoology.
These were not pets in the usual sense, but they were under his care and studied closely. His work contributed to early scientific understanding of many species.
It reflects a time when curiosity about nature often meant bringing it closer, sometimes very literally.