O is for Owl

Owls.  What beautiful creatures. 

The Northern Saw Whet Owl (photo).  We had a couple of small Owls similar to these that lived in the woods next to my house when I was growing up.  It was always fun to see them flying around at night.  However, when recently reading up on the Owl on Wikipedia, it sparked my interest to keep reading on.  It was surprising to learn some interesting facts that I was not aware of before.  Some Owls have such silly expressions on their faces.  However, if I was a small creature, I would not be so quick to laugh in an Owl's face.  Remember-they are raptors, birds of prey.

 Owls belong to the order of Strigiformes.  Depending upon your source, there are over 200 species of Owls and they are divided into two families: approximately 198 Owl species belong to the Typical Owl family or Strigidae and 18 different Owl species belong to the the Barn Owl family or Tytonidae.   

So, how do you tell them apart?

Barn Owls:  The area around the Barn Owls eyes, beak and face is heart-shaped, mostly white, long legs, dark eyes and they lack ear tufts.   Once you see a Barn Owl, you will almost always be able to tell them apart from the Typical Owls. 

A barn owl is about the size of a small cat, but only weighs a pound. His huge 42" wingspan accommodates slow silent flight - silent due to soft fringe-edged feathers that don't "swoosh" as they move. Silent flight means curtains for an unsuspecting rodent.

The barn owl is a raptor, a nocturnal bird of prey.  Eagles, falcons and hawks are also raptors, but they live by day. Barn owls like to live in barns; that's how they got their name. They've always adapted to man-made structures like attics, silos, steeples, and, of course, man-made nesting boxes.

Typical Owls have round-shaped facial discs and often have shorter skull, beak, legs and wings than the Barn Owls.  They include the Screech Owls, Snowy Owl,  Spotted Owl, Horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, Great Grey, and many more.  Below are photos of a pair of Burrowing Owls, a Screech Owl, and a pair of Horned Owls.  They too are raptors. 

Although Owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets — as are those of other birds — so they must turn their entire head to change views. Instead of moving their eyes, Owls swivel their head to visualize their surroundings. The swiveling radius of the Owl’s head is around 270˚, easily enabling them to see behind them without relocating the torso.  Owl eyes can move independently of each other and that is why they sometimes look funny.  But beware, they are watching you.

As Owls are farsighted, they are unable to see clearly anything within a few centimeters of their eyes. Caught prey can be felt by owls with the use of filoplumes — small hair-like feathers on the beak and feet that act as "feelers."  Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good. 

Hearing— Did you know that an owl can hear a mouse stepping on a twig from 75 feet (23 meters) away? This is because they have two huge holes in their skulls for their ears, along with facial discs that channel sound into the ear openings. They don’t look like our ears but they are incredibly good at picking up sounds.  (So much for being as quite as a mouse)

True Love.  Owls mate for life.  They will stay together until one dies.  Only once the babies are raised, they will seek out a new mate.

Much of the Owls' hunting strategy depends on stealth and surprise. Owls have at least two adaptations that aid them in achieving stealth. First, the dull coloration of their' feathers can render them almost invisible under certain conditions. Secondly, serrated edges on the leading edge of Owls'  remiges (feathers) muffle an owl's wing beats, allowing an Owl's flight to be practically silent.  Check out the two photos of Owls in flight (the second one reminds me of bullet). 

Eating: Most owls are active year-round and most species eat every day. Owls have a low percentage of body fat during the warm months of the year. However, during the cold months, the percentage of body fat does increase in some owl species such as the Snowy Owl. These fat reserves provide energy when food is scarce.  Owls are excellent rodent controllers.  Placing a new box for owls on a property can help control rodent populations (one family of hungry barn owls can consume more than 3,000 rodents in a nesting season) while maintaining the naturally balanced food chain. 

Snowy White Owls (babies) grow into beautiful Adults.

 

In Arab mythology, Owls are seen as bad omens.   The modern Western culture generally associates Owls with wisdom.  Stories go back at least as far as  Ancient Greece, noted for art and scholarship, and Athena, Athens' patron goddess and the goddess of wisdom, had the Owl as a symbol. Owls were considered funerary birds among the Romans.

The Harry Potter Series has made Owls popular again.

Errol, one of the Weasley Family Owls, is a Great Grey Owl.   Great Grey Owls are magnificent, but in the movie, Errol was a tad bit careless.  Harry owned a beautiful Snowy White Owl.  During the filming of the movie, 7 different Owls played Hedwig.

Wise old Owls.  Beautiful, calm, still. 

Mr. Owl
I saw an owl up in a tree
I looked at him and he looked at me.
I couldn't tell you about his size
For all I saw were two big eyes.

 

The Wise Owl
The wise old owl
Sat in an oak.
The more he saw,
The less he spoke.
The less he spoke,
The more he heard.
Why can't we be like
That wise old bird?