Punctuation 
Commas
- after an introductory phrase or word
- After a long day of rest, the owl flew into the night.
- to offset parenthetical phrase or an appositive
- Owls, in my opinion, are the best bird.
- to separate two identical clauses in a compound sentence
- The owl hurried after the mouse, but he failed to catch it.
- to introduce a quote
- Wilson the owl exclaimed, “the Write Place is so helpful!”.
- to separate a list of three or more
- Owls are better than blue jays, chickens, and doves.
For more helpful tips with commas check out Purdue Owl
Semicolons
- join two complete sentences
- Owls fly fast; blue jays fly slowly.
- join lists of items that previously included commas
- Owls live in the freezing Arctic deserts; or thick forests.
For more helpful tips with semicolons check out Grammar Bytes
Colons
- to include a list
- Owls eat many invertebrates: insects, spiders, and earthworms.
- join complete sentences when the second expands on the first
- Owls love writing: in fact, they wrote the first ever book.
- create emphasis
- Owls sleep so long: all day long.
For more help with colons check out Grammar Book