I’ve said it before, and likely will say it again, who doesn’t like those fascinating owls?
Owls rely on sight and sound to locate prey. Their senses are keenly developed, but they add to their advantage by some morphological adaptations. For example, many owls have asymmetrical ears, meaning one is higher on the head than the other. This aids them when hunting as they can pinpoint prey more easily.
Owls are well-known to have exceptional eyesight, but how is this even possible? One reason, lies in the fact, their eyes are not typical eyeballs like in most animals, but rather, they are tube-shaped and immovable in their sockets. Owls must turn their heads to see things in a different direction, unlike humans and many other creatures. This allows for superior binocular vision and greater depth perception. Did you know a Northern Hawk-owl can spot a vole half a kilometer away?! I recently spoke about their ability to swivel their head, 270 degrees, to spot prey and threats more quickly. So I don’t need to go there again, oops I just did!
Owls are superb flyers but do so almost soundlessly. The reason is, their feathers are softer than most other birds of prey and have tiny feathery projections along the leading edge of the wings, cushioning the sound of the air passing over them, allowing owls to sneak up on prey without fail.
Owls are voracious hunters and aren’t above stalking other owls. The Great Horned is perhaps the most aggressive and will attack other owls and even Bald Eagles without fear. To hold their prey, they, of course, have powerful talons, but their feet are different than most birds. Under normal conditions, they have two toes facing forward and two backward, thus they are zygodactyl. However, if they want to walk or hold prey, they can switch one of the toes and make it face the other direction, to give them a better grip.
It's hard to generalize, as there are many exceptions and circumstances which affect this, but most owls are monogamous and mate for life, and only look for a new partner if their mate dies.
That said, Northern Saw-whet and Boreal Owls will take on extra partners when food is plentiful, increasing the survivability of the species. Both males and females join in these extracurricular pairings, by the way.
Barn owls are bit more fluid in their devotion to their mates, and will abandon them, if they have a bad breeding season or they don’t see eye to eye on owlet rearing. This sounds odd but it's actually true!
Did you know: Barred Owls are very territorial and drive off rivals relentlessly. They defend an area of about 10 km, in any direction, from the nest.
The Burrowing Owl is an open grassland species which nests underground. It is one of the few owls who actually build a nest, whereas others generally find a good used nest and occupy it. Oh, and if you think nesting is sexy, think again, Burrowing Owls will use cow dung in the construction of the nest, to mask the odour of the babies.
Of the 19 species of owls occurring in North America (north of Mexico), the smallest is the Elf Owl (6 inches) and the largest is the Great Gray Owl (33 inches). The Elf Owl migrates in flocks to help individuals spot predators and find food, while the Great Gray is not generally migratory. It is, however, nomadic, meaning in lean years, they will wander widely in search of food as they ‘invade’ southern regions.
Surprisingly, this is one of the best times of year to see owls, from the infrequent Snowy Owl, which stands out in broad daylight, to the night hunters which are here and are harder to spot. As I mentioned, we haven’t seen the ‘northern’ owls (i.e. Northern Hawk-owl, Great Gray Owl and Boreal Owl) for some years, but they will eventually come. If you see any of these, I would appreciate your letting me know right away, please,
(geoff.carpentier@gmail.com).
Geoff Carpentier is a published author, expedition guide and environmental consultant. Visit Geoff on-line, on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
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