My fabulous and talented brother was walking home from the train when he stumbled across a baby owl. It was just sitting on the sidewalk and didn't seem at all concerned that he was watching it. Just after he decided to watch it for a while to make sure it wasn't hurt, one of his neighbors came by. The neighbor's girlfriend works for a veterinarian, so he gave her a call. And then they called the humane society. And then the Audubon Society. Nobody was available to come out to make sure the owl was OK.
Just as they were giving up hope, a drugged out dude came by and tried to touch the owl, which caused the owl to take flight to the nearest tree.
We figured out that it was probably a Northern Saw-whet owl. They're tiny, and they freeze when they're being observed. (Remember Jurassic Park, where the scientist tells the kid to stay still so the T. Rex won't see him? Sort of like that... news to the owl: we can see you.)
Doodled from this photo. (I liked the hand as a size reference.)
