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Owls Have Superior Senses | Nat Geo WILD

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Silent Snowy Owl Attack | Alaska's Deadliest

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Great Horned Owl on the Hunt | Nat Geo Wild

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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The Distinctive Calls of Owls: A Sampler

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Raptor Conservancy of Virginia

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Free coloring pages for children of all ages! Coloring pages:
If you are interested in the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia coming to your classroom or event to see owls or other raptors up close please check out our education presentation site!

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Coloring Owls - Raptor Conservancy of Virginia

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Free coloring pages for children of all ages! Coloring pages: If you are interested in the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia coming to your classroom or event ­­to see owls or other raptors up close please check out our education presentation site!

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Raptor Conservancy of Virginia

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VA Native Species - Raptor Conservancy of Virginia

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From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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The Distinctive Calls of Owls: A Sampler

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Species in decline

This species is in decline in certain regions. You can put up a nest box to help if you live in the right region and habitat.

Declining

Not declining

Not present

Source: USGS

Nesting Habitat

Forest

Open Woodland

Town

Nest Box Placement

Facing:

Any

Helpful Tips

Place the box under a tree limb at the woodland edge, with adjacent fields or wetlands. Install the box on a tree that is at least as wide as the box.

It is helpful if there is a branch nearby for the young to climb out on, but the branch should not obstruct the entrance hole.

Add 2-3" of wood shavings to the box.

To prevent use by squirrels, place the box on a pole with a predator guard, located far enough away from nearby trees that squirrels cannot jump to it.

You can install a second nest box within a pair's territory as a backup in case the first nest fails. Second nests are almost always in an alternate site.

Avoid disturbing nesting females during and shortly after egg-laying, as they may abandon the nest if disturbed early in the nesting cycle. It is best to wait at least one week, if not two, after finding a nest to check the contents.

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This species is in decline in certain regions. You can put up a nest box to help if you live in the right region and habitat. Declining Not declining Not present Source: USGS Nesting Habitat Forest Open Woodland Town Nest Box Placement Facing: Any Helpful Tips Place the box under a tree limb at the woodland edge, with adjacent fields or wetlands.

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The great horned owl gets its name from the tufts of feathers on its head that look like ears. But the owl's ears are really farther down on the side of its head, and are just openings in the skull hidden beneath feathers.

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National Geographic Kids Amazing Animals

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National Geographic Kids Amazing Animals

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Spotted Owls

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Watch to discover interesting facts about animals from all over the world.

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Audubon Society:  11 Fun Facts About Owls

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Audubon Society:  11 Fun Facts About Owls

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Owls are intriguing birds that easily capture the attention and curiosity of birders. These facts may help clear up a bit of their mystery and reveal what a hoot owls really are.

1. Many owl species have asymmetrical ears. When located at different heights on the owl's head, their ears are able to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions. Ready, aim, strike.

2. The eyes of an owl are not true "eyeballs." Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile, providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception.

3. Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.

4. A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from C.S. Lewis' description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia.

5. Owls hunt other owls. Great Horned Owls are the top predator of the smaller Barred Owl.

6. In fact, owls are insanely good hunters. Check out this video to learn why:

7. The tiniest owl in the world is the Elf Owl, which is 5 - 6 inches tall and weighs about 1 ½ ounces. The largest North American owl, in appearance, is the Great Gray Owl, which is up to 32 inches tall.

8. The Northern Hawk Owl can detect-primarily by sight-a vole to eat up to a half a mile away.

9. In fat years when mice are plentiful, usually monogamous Boreal Owls are apt to be promiscuous. Because easy prey means less work for parents feeding their young, males have been caught mating with up to three females, while females have been seen with at least one beau on the side.

10. Barn Owls swallow their prey whole-skin, bones, and all-and they eat up to 1,000 mice each year.

11. Northern Saw-whet Owls can travel long distances over large bodies of water. One showed up 70 miles from shore near Montauk, New York.

To learn more about these fascinating creatures, download the Audubon Bird Guide: Owls app now free on iTunes. This interactive guide to the 19 owl species of North America features both in-depth owl information and fun games and quizzes. Download it now.

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Owls are intriguing birds that easily capture the attention and curiosity of birders. These facts may help clear up a bit of their mystery and reveal what a hoot owls really are. Many owl species have asymmetrical ears. When located at different heights on the owl's head, their ears are able to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions.

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Virtual owl pellet dissection

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Virtual Pellet. Everyone should experience the fun and discovery of dissecting an owl pellet. Kids and adults alike can dissect a pellet online and learn many of the bones found inside a real pellet. It's a perfect way to inform parents, introduce teaching assistants, and even use when your budget prevents buying real owl pellets!

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Animal Planet

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National Geographic

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Learn about owls, nocturnal birds of prey.

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From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (this is the type of owl that lives on the SSSAS LS campus)

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Barred Owl Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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The Barred Owl's hooting call, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?" is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Browse by Family, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Idaho Public TV

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Owls: Facts (Science Trek: Idaho Public Television)

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There are several things that work together to give an owl excellent hearing. The first are the facial discs. These discs surround the owl's face and give the bird its distinctive look. Made of several kinds of specialized feathers, the facial discs collect sound around the owl's head, just like a satellite dish collects signals for your television.

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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These medium-sized owls have long, rounded wings and short tails, which combine with a buoyant, loping flight to give them a distinctive flight style. The legs are long and the head is smoothly rounded, without ear tufts.

Relative Size

Larger than a screech-owl, but smaller than a Great Horned Owl.

crow-sized

Measurements

Both Sexes

Length: 12.6-15.8 in (32-40 cm)

Weight: 14.1-24.7 oz (400-700 g)

Wingspan: 39.4-49.2 in (100-125 cm)

Barn Owls have a worldwide distribution with substantial variation in size and in the patterns of buff and white in the plumage. However, the subspecies found in the United States and Canada does not show substantial geographic variation.

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Barn Owl Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Ghostly pale and normally strictly nocturnal, Barn Owls are silent predators of the night world. Lanky, with a whitish face, chest, and belly, and buffy upperparts, this owl roosts in hidden, quiet places during the day. By night, they hunt on buoyant wingbeats in open fields and meadows.

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National Geographic Kids

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These large owls mainly live in the Arctic in open, treeless areas called tundra. Snowy owls perch on the ground or on short posts. From there they patiently watch for prey. Their favorite target is lemmings-small mouselike rodents-but they also hunt for other small rodents, rabbits, birds, and fish.

Snowy owls have excellent eyesight, but they obviously can't see their prey when it's underneath snow or a thick layer of plants. To capture those meals, the owl relies on its other keen sense: hearing.

In flight, snowy owls generally cruise low to the ground. Once they spot their prey, they approach it from the air, and snatch it up using the large, sharp talons, or claws, on their feet.

Most owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, but the snowy owl is active during the day, especially in the summertime. They tend to be most active at dawn and dusk.

Snowy owl pairs usually mate for life. Female snowy owls lay from 3 to 11 eggs at a time, in a nest built on the ground. When there is plenty of food available, snowy owls tend to lay more eggs than when food is scarce.

Lemmings make up the main part of the snowy owls' diet, and lemming population numbers rise and fall naturally. Sometimes, if there is not enough prey around to feed baby owls, the adult pair won't lay any eggs at all until the supply of food improves.

The female snowy owl sits on her eggs until they hatch. The male feeds her while she keeps their eggs warm and safe. After about one month, the eggs hatch.

Babies are covered in soft white down when they hatch. As new feathers replace the down, the birds become light brown.

The young leave the nest less than a month after they hatch. By the time they're about a month and a half old, the young owls can fly well, but their parents take care of them for another ten weeks or more.

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When you see a snowy owl, it's clear how the bird probably got its name: they're snow-white. Males are generally whiter than females. As males grow older, they get whiter. The females never become completely white-remaining brownish with darker markings. These large owls mainly live in the Arctic in open, treeless areas called tundra.

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National Geographic Kids

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Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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A thank-you video for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's community of supporters. Music by Neil Sidwell courtesy Audio Network https://us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/track/tiptoes_106926 Edited by Tom Swartwout Videography by Gerrit Vyn

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Audubon Birds of North America

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It's not easy to get owls to mug for the camera. Even in captivity the birds remain aloof, unruffled by the flash and unmoved by attempts to bribe them. Photographer Brad Wilson learned that lesson firsthand after trying to win over owls from the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis and The Wildlife Center near Española, New Mexico. He spent hours with each bird, trying to capture its direct gaze. "It's hard to get animals to look at you like humans do," he says. "That shot became my holy grail."

Wilson is an expert at point-blank portraits. His series " Affinity " features 65 species, including a white rhino, a white tiger, an Arctic fox, and an Egyptian Vulture. But owls were the most compelling and challenging subjects, he says. It takes years of building mutual trust before an owl will accept physical contact from a single person, says Wilson, and "owls don't extend that privilege to other humans."

Wilson wanted his images to accentuate the nobility and independence of each captive bird, minimizing its dependence on its caretaker. Many had wing injuries, for example, which he concealed in his pictures. The owls' human perches likewise hid themselves, contorting their bodies to stay out of the frame. It was a gesture to the birds, a way of saying that although their wild days are behind them, they still have their dignity.
Western Screech-Owl
Size: 7-9 inches tall; less than half a pound

Range: Southeastern Alaska through western Canada and the western U.S. to central Mexico

Status: Least Concern

The Western Screech-Owl plays host to a surprising houseguest: blind snakes-worm-like reptiles that dwell underground-that the owls ferry, live, back to their nests. This unlikely act of mercy is actually a child-rearing strategy: Parents that share their nests with the strange bedfellows have better success at raising young. That's because the snakes devour pests like ants and flies, whose larvae consume food reserved for owlets.
Barn Owl
Size: Up to 15 inches tall; 1 pound

Range: The world's most cosmopolitan owl, nests on six continents but avoids the northernmost reaches of North America, Europe, and Asia

Status: Least Concern

The constellation of spots that spreads across the Barn Owl 's head and décolletage are not just ornamental: The more spots a female has, the more resistant she seems to be to parasites, and the more attractive she is to males. A seemingly supernatural ability to pinpoint noises and spot prey in low-light and even blackout conditions, coupled with near-soundless flight, makes these owls the perfect night stalkers.
Eurasian Eagle-Owl
Size: 23-29 inches tall; 3-9 pounds

Range: Europe and Asia

Status: Least Concern

No bird is safe from the Eurasian Eagle-Owl-not even its kin. The mighty strigiform goes after Tawny and Snowy owls, as well as such larger birds as Gray Herons. On China's alpine meadows, the eagle-owl and the Upland Buzzard hunt the same voles and beady-eyed pikas. The buzzards conduct their business by day; the owls take over after dusk. With its 6.5-foot wingspan, it's also been known to hunt foxes and fawns.
Eastern Screech-Owl
Size: 6-10 inches tall; less than half a pound

Range: East of the Rocky Mountains, U.S. to northeastern Mexico

Status: Least Concern

The Eastern Screech-Owl can thrive in the most chaotic urban environments. It is one of the few raptors to live in New York City, including in Central Park, in the middle of Manhattan, where the species was reintroduced. To coexist so closely with civilization, the screech-owl has learned to skim off songbirds at feeders and squat in human-created crannies. Still, the street-smart bird remains secretive, stymying ornithologists eager to learn more about it.
Flammulated Owl
Size: 6 inches tall; 2 ounces, though females are 50 percent heavier when breeding

Range: Common in summer from southwestern Canada through the western U.S. to Mexico; winter range in Mexico is poorly known

Status: Least Concern

The Flammulated Owl's husky voice doesn't quite fit its pint-sized body. It can slow down its vocal vibrations by slackening the layers of skin around its throat, creating a low-pitched hoot. In spring and summer the owl idles in western mountains, feasting on insects. It was once thought not to migrate, but its insectivorous habits and recent studies showing that it's unable to go into torpor, or mini hibernation, confirm that it travels south in winter.
Great Horned Owl
Size: 1.5-2 feet tall; 3-5 pounds

Range: All of continental North America and much of South America

Status: Least Concern

Great Horned Owls are natural foster parents. A single female in captivity has been known to play surrogate to more than a hundred owlets in her lifetime. In the wild these birds are just as nurturing, with females keeping constant tabs on their young. When it comes to territoriality, however, tenderness turns to ferocity. Couples will fend off neighbors through hooting contests, and even set upon them with fistfuls of talons.
Long-eared Owl
Size: 15 inches tall; half a pound

Range: North America, Europe, Asia, and locally in North Africa, with some wintering south to Mexico and southern China

Status: Least Concern

The Long-eared Owl is a frequent target for other birds of prey, including Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls. When facing a formidable threat, it has a few tricks up its wing. It might pull in its plumage and stand up straight, elongating its body to look more imposing. The small owl may also sway side to side, feign an injury, or flop around its nest while screeching owlish imprecations.
Mexican Spotted Owl
Size: 18 inches tall; 1 pound

Range: From Mexico north through Arizona and New Mexico to Utah and Colorado

Status: Near Threatened

Of the three Spotted Owl subspecies, the Mexican is the rarest one in the U.S. Highly localized within its wide range, it seeks out cool, shady canyons, often in areas surrounded by the hot, dry slopes of desert mountains. It doesn't breed every year; when it does it prefers spacious tree hollows in old-growth trees. If such sites aren't available, the bird will adopt secondhand nests of other birds or occupy shallow caves in canyon cliffs.
Spectacled Owl
Size: 18 inches tall; 1-2 pounds

Range: Mexico and Central America to the northern two-thirds of South America

Status: Least Concern

The Spectacled Owl has little to fear from predators, since it roosts in the canopies of rainforests and gallery woods, where assailants are few. It eats almost anything; during one lurid encounter in Panama, one slaughtered a three-toed sloth, then feasted on its mangled body. The bird is aptly named for the bandit-like mask around its eyes-black spectacles on a fleecy white head for the young, white frames on a dark head for adults.

***
Freebie Alert! Download to start learning 821 North American species and their songs today.

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It's not easy to get owls to mug for the camera. Even in captivity the birds remain aloof, unruffled by the flash and unmoved by attempts to bribe them. Photographer Brad Wilson learned that lesson firsthand after trying to win over owls from the World Bird Sanctuary in St.

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What Makes Owls So Quiet and So Deadly? 

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What Makes Owls So Quiet and So Deadly? 

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KQED Deep Look Series

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Owls belong to a group called raptors, which also includes hawks, eagles and falcons. Most of these birds of prey hunt during the day and rely on speed to catch their meals. But unlike most other raptors, the roughly 200 species of owl are generally nocturnal while others are crepuscular, meaning that they're active around dawn and dusk.

They have extremely powerful low-light vision, and finely tuned hearing which allows them to locate the source of even the smallest sound. Owls simply hide and wait for their prey to betray its own location. As ambush hunters, owls tend to rely on surprise more often than their ability to give chase. Even for a trained biologist, owls can be hard to find. "They can be sitting very close to you and you won't even notice them," said Clark.

When birds flap their wings, it creates turbulences in the air as it rushes over their wings. In general, the larger a bird is and the faster it flies, the larger the turbulence created and that means more sound.

The feathers at the leading edge of an owl's wings have an unusual serrated appearance, referred to as a comb or fringe. The tiny hooked projections stick out and break up the wind as it flows over the owl's wings, reducing the size and sound of the turbulences.

Owl feathers go one step further to control sound. When viewed up-close, owl feathers appear velvety. The furry texture absorbs and dampens sound like a blanket. It also allows the feathers to quietly slide past each other in flight, reducing rustling sounds.

"All the feathers on their wings are very fluffy. They're soft to the touch" said Clark. "If you take one piece of paper and slide it over another there is some noise associated with that. The fluffiness of owl feathers seems to reduce this movement noise."

"Owls have been popular for thousands of years," he said."They're mysterious. They live at night and you don't see them all that often."

To learn more about owls and even see one up close in person check out Tactical Avian Predators, West Coast Falconry and The Lindsay Wildlife Museum

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See What Makes Owls So Quiet and So Deadly

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Owls belong to a group called raptors, which also includes hawks, eagles and falcons. Most of these birds of prey hunt during the day and rely on speed to catch their meals. But unlike most other raptors, the roughly 200 species of owl are generally nocturnal while others are crepuscular, meaning that they're active around dawn and dusk.