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Owls & Other Birds of Prey
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Owls & Other Birds of Prey
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4 The Great Horned Owl ACTIVITIES: 6 Pizza Ollie Owl Puzzles: 2, 16, 17 8 Owls That Live in the Ground Science: 13 9 Banding the Burrowing Owl Crafts & Cooking: 15 10 Whooo Is Your New Neighbor? Cartoon: 22 Workshop: 26 12 An Owl in Your Pocket Puzzle Solutions: 30 14 Home for the Homeless 18 A Labor of Love 19 Max & Gracie 20 The Fish Hawk 28 The Environmental
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by Shirley Anne Ramaley There’s a call in the air. “Whooo, hoo-hoo, hoo, hoo.” It almost sounds like, “Who’s awake, me too.” There is only one bird that sounds like this – the great horned owl. It can be heard about anywhere, because these owls live in mountain forests, desert canyons, city parks, and even on some rooftops of homes. They are very widespread and adapt easily to many environments. They live all over North America, Central America, and certain regions of South America.
Great horned owls hunt just about anything that’s not too big for them. They like insects and scorpions, great blue herons, snakes, jackrabbits, mice, other birds, and lots more. They also like cats, so keep your cat inside. Another delicious meal for a great horned owl is a skunk! The world is just one big smorgasbord for this big owl. Its wing span can reach five feet – that’s the size of many shorter adults! There are no predators that hunt this owl. It is the great horned owl that is the top predator.
it is a very interesting feature. Some people say the owl lowers the ear tufts like a dog when it’s upset. If you see one, take a good look at the ear tufts. Maybe it will let you know what it thinks of you. Their ears are offset, and not even like those of people and most other animals. This means their ears are slightly tilted in different directions. They are able to determine something’s location and establish the distance between two points. The owl tilts its head until the sound is equal in both ears. This pinpoints the direction and distance of the sound of the possible prey.
When it hunts, it likes to sit and wait. It can hear the smallest sound, like the squeak of a tiny A common belief is that an owl can turn its head mouse from far away. Its excellent vision in low completely around. Actually, while it can rotate its light makes it the perfect night hunter. head 270 degrees, it can’t turn completely around. Like all raptors, or birds of prey, great horned (If it could, that would be 360 degrees.) Unlike our owls use their feet instead of their beaks to capture eyes, owls’ eyes are fixed in their sockets. They prey. They have powerful feet with curved, sharp can’t move their eyes up and down. Instead, they talons. The hooked beak is for cutting and tearing move their entire head. meat. Not much gets away from this big bird!
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The eyes are really big. If a great horned owl They are the only owls with ear tufts. was as tall as a human, the eyes would be as big as Scientists disagree on why they have them, but oranges!
The owl has something else that helps it hunt. Its flight is silent. The feathers are soft, like fleece. This deadens the sound as air rushes over the wings while the owl is in flight. At night, as the owl flies silently toward its prey, the prey animal has no idea it’s in danger. The owls nest in January and raise their families in winter. The female sits on the eggs, and the male brings her food. The eggs take about a month to hatch. For a while, the babies, or “owlets,” huddle under the mother’s wings. Gradually, the little heads will peek out and eventually move out from under their mother’s wings. Both parents closely guard the owlets. The owlets start walking around the nest in about another month, often crowding each other. The parents usually sit nearby, perhaps in a tree branch, and guard the nest. Don’t ever go near a
great horned nest. Those parents won’t like it, and they aren’t afraid to attack anything that threatens the family. The parents bring food to the nest to feed the owlets. Soon the owlets begin to flap their wings, getting ready for the day when they fledge, or fly away from the nest. The closer they get to fledging, the more they practice flapping their wings. When they are about six weeks old, it’s time to go. They don’t all leave at the same time, but usually within a few days of each other. There are some threats. The use of insecticides can harm owls because they might feed on insects that were sprayed. But great horned owls, strong and powerful, are generally doing very well. Just remember – watch those ear tufts!
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Pizza Ollie Owl by Bette Killion • illustrated by Chris Sabatino
Mom and Pop Owl found a hole in a tree Just right for their nest and a new family. It was back from the highway in a quiet green glade. So a fine nest was built and three eggs were laid. Then before their babies could even hatch out, Some builders moved in and surveyed about. They began a building, worked a very fast pace. Soon beneath the owls’ tree stood a PIZZA PLACE! “OH, MY!” cried Mom Owl. “What shall we do, dear?” “Nothing!” said Pop Owl. “Our family is here!” And they were! Three balls of fuzzy, buff down. “We can’t rear them here,” Mom said. “We’re almost uptown!” Said Pop, “We must just do the best that we can.” So they named them Winston and Ollie and Jan. All went pretty well, but it was different, all right! Cars zoomed in and out. Music blared half the night. The days were more quiet. The owls could sleep then, But the great smell of pizzas came up on the wind. Ollie, especially, loved that good scent. He saw dropped bits below where the people went. He begged Pop Owl, when he went out for food, “Just bring me some pizza. It must be SO good!” So Pop brought up a piece – pepperoni and cheese. Ollie gobbled it up and said, “More pizza, please!” From that day on, while Winston and Jan Ate field mice and insects as little owls can,
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Ollie ate pizza scraps – sausage, onions, and sauce. When Pop couldn’t find bits, poor Ollie was cross. Pizza or nothing. He’d not eat – just pout! Jan and Winston were growing and filling out. Their brown and buff feathers were starting to sprout. Time came for the owlets to learn to fly. Jan and Winston soon followed Pop off in the sky. But Ollie flew down where he saw the crowd, Where the cars whizzed and screeched and the music was loud. He captured the scraps, each bit and each bite, To fill himself full with the pizza at night. “Oh, just look,” sighed Mom Owl. “You’re a terrible sight! Your feathers are growing all crooked and few. You’re so thin! You need owl food. All good owls do.” Ollie just laughed and then slept the day through. That night when he woke and looked all about, He saw Mom and Pop Owl and the owlets were out, Probably flying through trees, searching for food, But he, Ollie Owl, would go find something good!
He perched on his nest edge, looked down, and OH, MY! A thousand round pizzas caught his eye. All the car wheels were round pizzas, every window and door. The trees hung with pizzas, everywhere more and more. Ollie blinked, rolled his eyes, but the pizzas stayed. Just too many! thought Ollie, and he was afraid. He crept back into his nest and covered his head. When his family came home, he excitedly said, “Did you see all those pizzas? What happened, Pop? I think they are growing. Can you make them stop?” “What pizzas?” asked Pop Owl. “What pizzas?” asked Jan. And Winston – “What pizzas?” Then Mom Owl began, “I knew it! Why did we build here – why? It was bound to end badly!” She started to cry. Pop Owl was thinking. Pop Owl was wise. He leaned down and squinted in Ollie Owl’s eyes. “Like a virus,” said Pop, “I can easily tell You have developed a Pizza Eyes Spell. The cure is quite simple. This soon will be gone If you eat mice and insects – owl food from now on.” Ollie Owl nodded, and Pop was in flight To find him some owl food that very night! Ollie Owl gulped it down fast – every bite! Next evening when Ollie woke for the night, He heard music, smelled pizza, and saw the bright lights, But he did not SEE pizzas, and that was good! He flew off with the others to search for OWL FOOD! Mom Owl said, as she brushed off a tear, “Let’s build our nest somewhere quiet next year.” Pop Owl said, “Surely, we’ll do that, my dear!”
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Owls That Live in the Ground by David Brown  •  photographs by David Magney
Everybody knows that owls fly around at night and build nests in trees, right? Have you ever heard of an owl that hunts during the day and lives in a hole in the ground? The burrowing owl is such an owl. They are called burrowing owls because they live in burrows in the ground. They do not do the burrowing themselves, however. They live in holes dug by animals like ground squirrels, badgers, prairie dogs, or desert tortoises. Burrowing owls live in much of western North America, from the prairies of Canada down through Mexico. There are also populations of burrowing owls in Florida and South America. The burrows that the owls live in have several functions. Burrowing owls live in areas that are hot and dry. During the heat of the day, they stay in their burrows. The temperatures are cooler there than out in the open air. Burrowing owls lay their eggs and raise their young in their burrows. The nesting season for burrowing owls in North America is from April to July. In some areas, eggs will be laid before and after these dates. The female burrowing owl lays between three and twelve eggs. She sits on the eggs for about a month, while the male owl hunts and brings her food in their burrow. The baby owls stay with their parents for about six weeks. Then they leave the burrow to live on their own. This process is called fledging. Before they fledge, young burrowing owls learn to fly and hunt insects and rodents. They also learn how to avoid predators that might want to eat them, like hawks and other large owl species.
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Burrowing owls like to live in open areas. These are the same places where people like to build houses, shopping malls, golf courses, and farms. Unfortunately, burrowing owl populations are declining in many parts of their range. Sometimes people build artificial burrows for the burrowing owls to live in. Hopefully, ways can be found to provide enough space for both people and burrowing owls.
Banding the Burrowing Owl by Shirley Anne Ramaley
A small owl sits on the branch of a tree. Its golden eyes watch over its burrow in the ground. It’s a burrowing owl, one of the smallest owls, and only about the size of a robin. Most birds nest in trees. The burrowing owl is very unusual because it nests in the ground. Unlike most owls, these little owls are often seen during the day. They sit on tree branches, or stand by their burrow entrance, ready to duck inside if they spot danger. They are always on the lookout for predators, such as hawks. However, the owls often let people walk quite close. Some of these owls migrate. An important research tool for birds, especially those that migrate, is banding. Researchers very carefully trap the owls, and then apply bands on their legs. These bands don’t hurt the birds. By observing the bands on the birds, people can read the numbers and know which owl it is. After all, these little guys all seem to look alike! Because the owls will often sit quietly for long periods, scientists, bird watchers, and anyone interested are able to read the numbers on the bands. These numbers are compared to a database, where each banded owl is listed. Some researchers attach tracking devices to the bands. The researchers can then follow migrating owls with transmitters on the ground. We can all help the burrowing owl. If you see a banded owl, try to record its band number. The numbers are large and can easily be seen if you are close to the owl, or have binoculars. Write down the number. There may be researchers who are interested in your finding. Your state wildlife agency can help you with this. The more we learn about these owls, the better we will all be able to help them survive.
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