There is no doubt in this fact that the owl is one of the most beautiful birds. The most classical and sophisticated member of the Kingdom is “ANIMALIA”. The scientific name of the owl is Strigi formes. There are over 200 different types of owls. The owl is a very unique bird according to its characteristics. It is a nocturnal bird of prey. It is characterized by its upright stance, a large board head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, and sharp talons feathers for silent flight.
Owl hunts small mammals, insects, fishes, and other birds. Found in all regions of the world except polar ice caps and some remote islands. According to their characteristics, habitat, and way of living owls are characterized into different types. Here I will discuss some famous 5 types of owls.
Barn owl
Barn owls are remarkably adaptive and found in almost all parts of the world, but mostly in the USA and Canada. They have excellent vision. They are very sensitive to sound and can locate their prey by sound. They are regarded as one of the best prey birds in the world. They love to live in the forest.
But unfortunately, their population is decreasing day by day due to excessive deforestation.
Barred owl
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Also as Northern barred owl, overall greyish brown and largest specie of owl. They lived in the forest. They prey on other birds, reptiles, and small vertebrates. They have nesting habits and they are not fully nocturnal. They are skilled and silent fliers and frequently use routine forest flyways.
According to scientists climate change and deforestation are the biggest threats to the barred owl as they love to live in the forest.
Great horned owl
This grumpy yet adorable species is also known as the tiger owl or the hoot owl. It is a large owl and native of America. It is an extremely adaptive bird and its diet is rabbits, hares, rats, mice, and voles. It is notably large in size and has nesting habits. The unique character of the tiger owl is it has horns on its head. They are a bird of essentially low intelligence because they have poor haunting skills than other owls. Generally, they are active at night but in some areas, they may be in the late afternoon.
True owl
They are typical owls. They are nocturnal and spend most of the day roosting. They are often perceived as tame since they allow people to approach quite closely before taking flight. They can live in human residential areas. They prey on other birds, small animals, and insects.
Snowy owl
They are large white owls and are often referred to as white owls and Arctic owls. They are natives of North America. They are active both during the day and night time. They can withstand extremely cold temperatures. They shelter themselves behind big rocks and trees during storms. They have a sharp sense of hearing and they are regarded as one of the intelligent specie of owls. Mostly they feed on fish. Drastic climatic changes are the biggest threat to snowy owls.
SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT OWLS
There are many superstitions that are associated with owls. In some countries, it is a sign of intelligence and in some countries, it is a sign of dumbness. In England, it is famous as owls have a sharp sense of vision so if you eat their eyes it will increase your sight too.
In North America, it is considered a sign of death. It is believed that dreaming of an owl signified death for people.
Greeks and Romans believed that witches can turn themselves into owls. In some regions, it is associated with evil spirits.
On the other hand in some countries, it is believed that an owl is a sign of wisdom. It is also famous that owls have sprites of warriors and they are considered the source of power in the war. So not all owls are bad.
In the end, the owl is one of the beautiful creatures of God. But unfortunately, it is on the verge of extinction due to drastic climatic changes. So it is in need of time that we should adopt an environment-friendly approach toward life for our fellow creatures.
