Recently, Marsha Boggess, my sister-in-law was able to take a cell phone picture of an owl, just outside her window and sent it to everybody in the family. We all oohed and aahed, of course. My son, Jimmie, thought it was a Barred Owl. It is really unusual, however, to ever see an owl, especially in the daytime. They are most certainly nocturnal creatures.
Most of my dealings with owls have come at first light while on spring gobbler hunts. Gobblers will often answer to an owl’s hoot, which gives the hunter an idea as to the whereabouts of the turkey. I have seen only 2 or 3 owls in my yard in the 40-plus years I have lived there.
Owls are certainly strange looking creatures – almost like cats with feathers. Their eyes are outsized to help them see at night. I expect bright sunlight hurts their eyes, which is why we rarely see them in daytime. The eyes of an owl, however, are fixed in their sockets. They can’t move them. Rather, they swivel their heads in order to see. They can actually turn their heads about 270 degrees, nearly full circle.
The feathers of an owl are specially designed for stealth-flight. A rodent can’t hear an owl approaching until it’s too late. Their talons are so powerful as to often break a prey’s spine on contact.
Says Wildlife Specialist, Glenda C. Booth: “The 220-or-so owl species in the world have intrigued people for millennia. At times called ‘ghost birds’, owls are largely nocturnal and to some people, seem mysterious, stealthy and even spooky. They hoot, hiss, howl, wail, yowl and scream. To the Romans, owls presaged death. For the Greeks, owls portended military victory. Owls are common nursery rhyme themes and school mascots.”
Glenda also notes there are five common owls in Virginia: the Eastern Screech Owl, the Barn Owl, the Barred Owl, the Great Horned Owl and the Short-eared Owl.
Owls, however, are threatened primarily because their prey, the rodents of the fields, are dwindling in numbers. We can thank the farmers’ love for fescue grass for the destruction of the natural grasses of meadows, the prime habitat for mice and small animals – bobwhite quail, too. Fescue grass grows so thick that little can survive in its path.
Owls are certainly interesting creatures and we all wish them well.