Animal Crossing: New Horizons' animal villagers are certainly not the only critters that players will encounter as they spend time with this new Switch exclusive, as there are a myriad of bug and fish species to be caught and donated to Blathers and his museum. Additionally, fans will occasionally encounter two different, non-villager birds in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a yellow bird and and a white owl, and some players may be wondering if they can also apprehend these creatures.
To put things simply, players cannot catch Animal Crossing: New Horizons' yellow bird and white owl, as they will fly away as soon as a fan attempts to get near them regardless of how sneaky their approach is. That said, just because players are not able to catch the birds in ACNH for display in their homes and museums does not mean that they are without purpose, and indeed they are quite a useful feature in this new game.
Specifically, the appearance of the yellow bird and white owl in Animal Crossing: New Horizons means that a player has an unread message on the message board next to Tom Nook's Resident Services. Thus, fans should make sure to check the board anytime that they see a yellow bird or white owl atop it, as there could be an important announcement waiting for them.
With respect to the contents of these announcements, that is highly variable. For instance, some players may have recently found details about a forthcoming fishing tournament on their bulletin boards in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and indeed the yellow bird and white owl would have been present on these fans' islands until that message had been read.
For players that are a bit disappointed to learn that they cannot catch the yellow bird or white owl in ACNH, there may be some consolation in the fact that previous entries in the series featured bird cage furniture items with living birds inside. Indeed, these pieces allowed fans to have birds chirping away in their own homes, and perhaps there is something similar to be found in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.