Last weekend we watched Raptors. To keep the theme going, yesterday we traveled to SE corner of Minnesota, where the International Owl Center was hosting their annual Owl Festival. (Yeah, I know, Owls are raptors too)
They are silent killers of the night. With feathers edged with a fine, soft fringe, they can fly nearly noiselessly using keen ears to locate their prey. Most critters don't know they're there until sharp talons sink into them.
Several owls were on hand and we got to learn a lot about each one.
This is a Bard Owl. Named for the vertical dark feathers that form "bars" on them. Prefer swampy areas for living and hunting.
This handsome guy is a Barn Owl...know to live in barns and near farm granaries where there's lots of little mice running around. Sadly lots of farmers now use chemical poisons to kill rodents. When the Barn Owls catch a rodent that has ingested poison, the owl dies too.
A close up of the deadly talons used to snatch prey. Owl differ from other raptors in that they have two toes in front and two in back. An Eagle or Hawk has three toes in front and one toe in the rear of the foot.
The Eastern Screech Owl is one of the smaller varieties of Owls. Small yet a killer...mice, voles and larger insects are all on the menu.
Most wide-spread Owl in the U.S. is the Long Eared Owl. The "ears" are feather tufts, not ears. Owl ears are near their eyes and the concave shape of their faces help focus the sound of their prey. They can easily hear a mouse burrowing under several inches of snow and just by following the sound, pounce and capture them.
Snowy Owl, an Arctic bird. They sometimes come to the northern U.S. when winter in the Arctic is severe and hunting poor. This gal broke a wing when "visiting" and can't be released back to the wild, so now she help educate.
Back view. You can tell this is a female by all the black feathers. The males are nearly pure white. Juveniles have much more black than the females making them easy to identify.
Thanks for taking the time to look. Now you know Hoo's Hoo in the Owl world.
Sorry, had to do that.
