Owl Facts

 

“Flies through the darkness of the night on silent wings” Audrey Tourney

Characteristics:

• Largest North American Owl is the Great Gray.
• A group of owls are called a parliament.
• Owls, like humans, have their eyes facing forward where most other birds are on the side of their head.
• There are two types of owl groups – barn owls or typical owls. There are 180 species of owls in the world. 19 species are in North America.
• Owls cannot completely digest all of their prey. After a period of time they will cough up a pellet that contains the undigested parts – bones, teeth and fur.
• The extra bone in an owl’s neck allows it to twist to see behind them. The bones are hollow making them light for flight.
• Owls have no feathers in what we consider armpits.
• A great Gray owl has the ability to hear its prey 100 feet away.
• If owl feel threatened they will puff out their feather to look larger and continually snap their beaks.
• The Great Horned Owl is a very large owl with ear tufts or “horns”. Often active before dark.
• In Canada, the Great Horned species vary from very dark in the Maritimes to almost as pale as the Snowy Owl around Hudson Bay.

Habitat:

• Boreal forests of Northern Hemisphere. May hunt further south where their food source is easier to find.

Diet:

• The Great Horned Owl is the only owl to be known to eat skunks.
• Other food types include – mice, moles, voles, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks.
• Unlike most owl species, the Great Grey often hunts by day.

Reproduction:

• Owls lay their eggs in hollow trees, on cliffs, on the ground or will use abandoned nests from other birds.
• In the spring the female will lay up to three to four eggs. It takes 1 month for the owlets to be born. They are born with their eyes closed but usually only the first-born will survive. They get the most food and attention from the parents. The owlets will leave the parents in late summer-fall to find their own territory.