A 1-year-old owl is recovering after being rescued by a Westport police officer.

The barred owl was hit by a car in Westport Thursday night.

"He was discombobulated, concussed. The blood you see on the beak was just broken blood vessels - the owl equivalent of a bloody nose - and structurally he's fine," said Peter Reid with Wildlife in Crisis, a Weston-based animal rescue and conservation group.

Officer Dominique Carr responded to the scene, found the owl in the road and wrapped it in a towel.

"He's a kindhearted guy who was doing right by the animal that night and wanted to help where he could," said Westport Police Lt. Eric Woods.

Reid then brought the bird to Wildlife in Crisis, where there are others just like it. Reid says the rescued owl is the third to be hit by a car in Westport over the last month. He says we are seeing more owls because the warmer winter is bringing out more of their prey.

"They hunt along the roadside because its edge habitat so they find rodents there, and they're very focused on their prey so once they start their glide path they don't have that much peripheral awareness," said Reid.

The owl is recovering and will be released in the same area where he was found because one man gave a hoot.

Reid says owls hunt at night and get disoriented if they see headlights.