This Eurasian Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) fell into a chimney, that is why it’s all black with soot. Note, the closed eyes, this is actually a sign of distress in owls. The owl was cleaned and later released.
The species is resident in Europe and southern Russian and naturally occurs in two colours rufous brown and greyish brown with all intermediate forms.
Their territorial calls are the classic hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo..
They nest in holes in trees.
[from Ann Novek in Sweden]
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
A story with a happy ending.
The tawny owls defence their nests in a fierce way. You have to watch out for their talons when they defend their young ones.
When working with some birds it’s necessary to wear protection eye glasses.
They eat about 3-4 mice each day in captivity.
Thanks Ann,
I like owls. As Herr Professor Doktor Hegel said, “the owl of Minerva first takes flight at dusk”. In the evening of my life, I take comfort from that, even if its not true. But then, there is a consensus that it is true amongst people of my vintage. So it must be true, mustn’t it?
In Australia we have the Tawny Frogmouth Owl (Podargus strigoides) which shuts its eyes, and pretends to be a broken branch. The trouble is that sometimes two or more do it, and stick out like a sore thumb.
Sorry GDGE, but tawnies are not owls. They are more closely related to night jars.
Hi Davey,
In Sweden we call Europe’s smallest owl, the pygmy owl, the Minerva owl!
Thanks Libby,
I stand corrected. It must be like stoats and weasels. You can weasily tell the difference – one is stoatily different from the other.
An owl’s ears are not positioned evenly, but are asymmetrical, with one ear positioned slightly higher than the other.
This makes it easier for the owl to locate the prey…
My ears are assymetrical – am I a GM owl? Let’s not forget Lorenz’s (sp?) Owl. It is mathematical, and an icon of Chaos Theory. I think it shows that some systems may be mathematically describable, but are unpredictable. Climate gurus beware?