SPECIES SPOTLIGHT » Owls

The Owls are an order of birds of prey. Most are solitary, and nocturnal, with some exceptions. They are classified in the order Strigiformes, in which there are over 200 extant species. Owls mostly hunt small mammals, insects, and other birds, though a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except Antarctica, most of Greenland, and some remote islands. Though owls are typically solitary, the literary collective noun for a group of owls is a parliament.

The living owls are divided into two families, the typical owls, Strigidae, and the barn-owls, Tytonidae.

Owl Physiognomy

Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a hawk-like beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disc. Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets, as with other birds, and must turn their entire head to change views. The large facial disc ironically helps to funnel the sound of prey to their ears. In many species, these are placed asymmetrically, for better directional location.  They can turn their head 135 degrees in either direction; they can thus look behind their own shoulders (a skill many us might find useful!).

Most owls are nocturnal, actively hunting for prey only under the cover of darkness. Several types of owl, however, are crepuscular, or active during the twilight hours of dawn and dusk. Owls do not construct nests but rather look for a sheltered nesting site or an abandoned nest, in trees, underground burrows, or in buildings, barns and caves.  In recent years, many owls have moved from their previous rural habitats to start to inhabit urban areas.

Owl relationship with humans

Owls have been a feature of falconry for years.  In Western culture stemming from Greek mythology, the owl was associated with the goddess Athena, a bird goddess who became associated with wisdom, the arts, and skills, and as a result, owls also became associated with wisdom.

Henry David Thoreau summarized one perception of owls, when he wrote in 1854’s Walden:

I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic and maniacal hooting for men. It is a sound admirably suited to swamps and twilight woods which no day illustrates, suggesting a vast and underdeveloped nature which men have not recognized. They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all [men] have.

.: Wikipedia :.

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