All that being said, I love Owls.
I mean look at that! They don't look like birds, they look like cats! They look fake! They look like something I might want for a pet. And yeah, they're cute, but don't keep owls as pets people. Be smart.
I screamed when I first saw this! How is this not the sweetest thing you've ever seen in your entire life. This is a full grown Northern Saw-Whet Owl. It's not even the smallest owl either.
Tawny Fish OwlEven the bigger owls are interesting to look at, fluffy round heads, flat faces, big eyes. But what gives an owl it's unique almost mammalian appearance is that both it's large eyes are located on the front of it's head where as most birds have one eye on either side.
Here's another Saw-Whet owl, this time the Unspotted Saw-Whet. His eyes are narrowed making him appear a little less friendly. Which is something to remember, no matter how cute they may look, they're called birds of prey for a reason.
Okay, yeah seeing that in the wild would put me off.
Would you believe that the above picture features two owls from the same species? They're both Masked barn owls, which are usually born white, but Sable is was born with melanism- a 100,000 to one gene mutation making her the opposite of an albino. In the wild Sable would have been killed by her mother, but since she was born in captivity she got the chance to grow up and make friends with other Barn owls like Petra.Random Owl Facts:
- Owls are located everywhere except Antarctica and Greenland.
- Owls have Binocular vision.
- Not all owls are nocturnal.
- A myth is Africas says owl are harbingers of death.
- Western culture associates owls with wisdom.
A Snowy Owl, a species made famous by the Harry Potter series. This own is so pretty it almost looks fake. Although Hewdwig is female, she is portrayed by male owls in the film because only males get that pure snowy white plumage.
Pigwidgeon is a Scops Owl, another tiny species, they only grow to about 7-8 inches tall. Isn't he sweet looking, he looks like a Furby, if you're like me an remember what those are.I hope you found this post slightly informative, if not, I hope you at least found it adorable.
I absolutely loved this post. I adore owls, there is something majestuous about them, and when you look at them you just can't help but feel some kind of inner peace...
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think they're amazing to look at.
ReplyDeleteI kinda got embarrassingly excited by this post... I love birds, owls especially! So, yay for gratuitous owl pics and facts!!
ReplyDeleteDid you know owls are considered lucky in Japan? It's because they're called fukurou in Japanese, and fuku can also mean luck.
That was one of the cutest blog posts I've seen in a while! Adorable :D
ReplyDeleteMaura: No I didn't know that, that's kinda cool.
ReplyDeleteSonia: Thank you^^.
What type of owl is the first one? I LOVE OWLS!!!
ReplyDeleteThe first picture and the second picture are the exact same owl.
ReplyDeleteI rescued a Saw-whet Owl off of a barbed wire fence one day...
ReplyDeleteI was leaving for work one morning and at the end of my driveway on my neighbors fence I saw this tiny little feathered thing hanging from the wire.
I pulled right over and jumped out to see if I could do anything for it... I suspected that it was dead, and with a blistering hot day on track I thought I'd remove it from the fence and at the very least, bury it. (I kinda run that way) So here I am, trying to figure out how it was hooked on the wire, one barb hooked to the top of it's head and hooked on the next barb over was it's poor little wing. As I leaned forward to see it from the front I realized it was a tiny little Owl, and at that same moment it's little eye slowly looked over at me..... my heart melted and I instantly went to work trying to unhook it which took several minutes. Finally freed from the fence, I could see that it was injured really bad, so I wrapped him in a shirt I had in the car and headed to town.
I got to work, (my own store) and went right to cleaning all the blood off and tried so hard to make it comfortable. I closed up the store, and drove to a place in Portland, Ore. that rescues and rehabilitates wild birds. They took all my info, and the Owl, and I headed home. A week or so later, they informed me that he, a full grown male was a Saw-whet and native to the area. They also informed me that the damage to all the skin on the top of his head, blood loss, and broken wing had taken its tole on the little guy and that he had passed away.
I'm sorry my story ends on a sad note, but I do feel Blessed to have helped one of Gods little creatures!
Thanks for sharing those tidbits! Let me just add the following to your random facts about owls: they’re strictly carnivorous, they can’t be kept inside a cage and therefore requires a special leash, and lastly, they’re truly high-maintenance which makes them a glamorous pet. But that shouldn't stop anyone to give it a try, if they really want one! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteRandal Barber @ Poggi's Animal House
Actually, that is a terrible recommendation. They, like all native birds in the US, are covered under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/regulationspolicies/mbta/mbtintro.html
Deletewhich makes it illegal to own one. If you ever find someone selling an owl (or native bird of any kind), you should know that it has either been poached from the wild or raised in captivity, illegally. To handle birds of prey, you must acquire special permits. And, no, you can't own them.