The facts about owls.

Strange photo of an owl, rotating head perpendicular.

The Owls.

Owls are birds. They are popular for their nocturnal habits. There are so many painting of owls all over the world. Almost all cultures in the world have children stories of owls. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh are some examples of great novels having the owl as a noble character.

Owl Species.

Over 200 species found in the world and they are sorted in two groups, 'barn' and 'true' owls. There are 16 species in barn owls and the rest of all owl species are under the true owls.

Popular Owl Species.

Barn Owls: Sulawesi owl, Greater sooty owl, Barn owl, Australasian grass owl and Ashy-faced owl etc.

True Owls: Horned owls, Screech owls, Saw-whet owls, elf owl and Eurasian eagle owl. etc...

Barn Owls.

Barn Owls are medium sized birds with heart-shaped face, long legs and powerful talons. The wing span of Barn owls is about 3½ feet.

True Owls.

Some of the True owls are tiny and some are bulky. The tiny true owl is Elf and the bulky is Eurasian eagles. True owls have large head with round face and a short broad tail.

Further details about owls.

Other than the above mentioned features, there are some more to talk about owls. Owls have strong legs which have 4 toes. Two toes faces forward while other two faces backward. That means the owls have Zygodactyl foot.

The eyes of the owls are fixed to the sockets and faced forward. So, they have to turn their head to see in different direction, like in the above picture. Owls have binocular vision.

Owl has long hooked bill which is used to tear the food. The owls does not have teeth as other birds. They can not chew their prey. They swallow their prey as a whole. Sometimes they tear the large food with their sharp bill. Owls mainly eat small mammals. Example: Rabbits, squirrels, mice and voles. Also they eat reptiles, insects and birds. Since most of the owls eat at night (nocturnal), some owls eat in the day time and some others in the evenings.

Owls have their ears behind the eyes. In most species the ears are located symmetrically. But, in some species the ears are placed asymmetrically. The asymmetrical ears give them a power to sense the time difference the sound reaching each ears and with that sense they locate the origin of the sound.

Most of the owl species have got special feathers which are well developed, by which the sound is minimized as well as the turbulence, while flying. Leading edges of primary feathers have stiff fringes which reduces the noise. The soft fringes in the primary feathers reduces the turbulence. Sound is further reduced by the downy feathers that covers the surface of the wings.

Owls Vocalization.

As you all know the 'hoot' is the main sound the owls produces. They also produce many different sounds (screeches, hisses, and screams). Not all species of owls hoot. Owls vocalizations are low-pitched and loud. The well known 'Owls cry' travels to long distance through the night air and help them to find their mates.

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