### animal | vertebrate | bird | raptor:

Owl
* All owls are predators, which means they depend on other animals for food
  - predatory and some owls hunt during the day but most hunt at night
  - protected by state and federal regulations
  - can talk when they have something important to say
* All owls have a facial disc
  - flat 'faces' which are formed by the feathers of the facial disc
  - good vision at night
  - sharp hooked beaks
  - white eggs
  - lay plain white eggs
  - share the same general body plan
  - swallow small prey items whole
* Do Cry.
* Many OWLs allow members of the general public to ask questions or submit work for review.
* Many owls also have asymmetrical ear openings
  - rely upon hearing to hunt
  - die during freezing weather or are too weak to breed in the following spring
* Many owls live in the bushes
  - woods and forest
  - migrate to the southern portions of their breeding range to spend the winter
  - move into an abandoned nest that some other bird built the year before
* Most OWLs aim to use online resources to supplement a conventional writing program
  - Owls are active at dusk and dawn, spending the daytime at a quiet, inconspicuous roost
* Most owls are active at dusk or at night
  - year-round and most species eat every day
  - located in nests
  - nocturnal and hunt for food at night
  - nocturnal, which means they are active during the coldest part of each day
  - rather large birds
  - avoid areas
  - bring meals
  - carry prey
  - depend on ecosystems
* Most owls eat animals
  - diets
  - grasshopper mice
  - mammals
  - meat
  - rabbits
  - rats
  - rodents, small mammals, snakes, insects, and small birds
  - their prey whole-bones, beaks, feet, and feathers
  - voles
  - emerge from nests
* Most owls feed on rodents
  - small rodents
  - fly over heads
  - get food
  - grow feathers
* Most owls has-part bones
  - claws
  - eyes
  - legs
  - muscles
  - necks
  - retinas
  - skulls
  - tails
  - wings
* Most owls have a short comb-like fringe on the forward edge of their outer flight feathers
  - ability
  - backs
  - big eyes
  - bronchi
  - dark gray and brown marking feathers
  - ear flaps
  - ears
  - excellent eyesights
  - exceptional vision
  - feathers right down to their talons
  - golden claws
  - habits
  - hearts
  - large broad wings and lack a spectacular style of flight
  - metabolism
  - moveable flaps
  - senses
  - soft plumage and demonstrate noiseless flight
  - such big eyes
  - types
  - very similar bodies
  - wings that are great for the size of the owl
  - yellow eyes
  - hide in trees
* Most owls kill hares
  - like to eat mice and rats
* Most owls live in areas
  - forests
  - habitats
  - regions
  - wildernesses
  - woodlands
  - love food
* Most owls make nests
* Most owls move heads
  - into areas
* Most owls occur in forests
* Most owls possess enemies
  - prefer food
  - prey on snakes
  - produce sound
  - raise heads
  - reach maturity
* Most owls reach sexual maturity and are ready to reproduce about a year after they hatch
  - rely on rodents
* Most owls require food
  - resemble owls
  - respond to their own species calls if played back in a nesting territory
  - rest on trees
* Most owls return to habitats
  - sites
* Most owls rotate heads
  - point toes
* Most owls seek food
  - homes
* Most owls seize animals
  - share same characteristics
* Most owls sit in environments
  - vegetation
* Most owls sit on barns
  - branches
  - limbs
  - sleep in the daytime and hunt at night
  - spread wings
* Most owls stand on feet
  - take flight
  - turn heads
* Most owls use ears
  - energy
  - memory
  - spatial memory
  - their feet only for perching and grasping prey
  - wait for prey
  - watch birds
* Some owls adapt to areas
  - are both nocturnal and diurnal
* Some owls are located at tops
  - on nests
  - nocturnal and some are diurnal
  - very wise like the pueo
  - belong to families
  - blend in with the night
* Some owls can kill and eat a small fox
  - reach the height of two feet tall while others only grow about five inches tall
  - see well enough in the day time to hunt by day as well by night
  - depend on mice
* Some owls eat bats
  - carnivores
  - faunas
  - lizards and possums and some owls eat mice
  - poison
  - reptiles
  - seeds
  - skunks
* Some owls eat small mammals
  - rabbits and raccoons
  - squirrels
  - emerge from dens
  - even go in wood pecker holes, where the wood pecker once lived
* Some owls feed in lakes
* Some owls feed on insects
* Some owls fly into power lines or are struck on highways
  - over homes
  - grab bunnies
* Some owls has-part beaks
  - lids
* Some owls have a big tuft of feathers over their ears that look like horns
  - movable flap along the front edge, called the operculum
  - appearances
  - brood patches
  - chances
  - cheek pouches
  - coats
  - discs
  - fringes on their primary feathers to enable silent flight
  - general appearances
  - global distribution
* Some owls have large cheek pouches
  - legends
  - one ear lower than the other
  - pellets
  - rings around their eyes
  - same general appearances
  - small pellets
  - tufts of feathers on their heads that resemble ears, but are actually decorative
  - undersides
  - white undersides
* Some owls help ecosystems
  - scientists
  - inhabit northern tundra
  - invade habitats
* Some owls kill martens
  - shrews
  - learn about owls
* Some owls live in Alberta
  - California
  - Florida
  - Massachusetts
  - Mexico
  - Montana
  - North America
  - Pennsylvania
  - Virginia
  - airports, old building farms, and in barns
  - grassland
  - neighborhoods
  - oak
  - parks
  - prairie
  - rainforests
* Some owls live in the forest
  - near farms
* Some owls live on a farm or in an old building
  - islands
* Some owls make eggs
* Some owls migrate to California
  - Wisconsin
* Some owls nest in colonies
  - loose colonies
* Some owls occur in Canada
  - play in trees
* Some owls possess diets
  - populations
  - prefer cold climates, while others live in deserts or rain forests
* Some owls prey on birds
  - juncos
  - potoroos
  - young raccoons
  - probably migrate to new areas as young adults, then become permanent residents
  - raise tails
* Some owls rely on lemmings
* Some owls require forests
  - protection
  - vertebrae
* Some owls return to eggs
  - ground
  - scare other birds
* Some owls seek insects
* Some owls seize insects
  - martins
  - worms
* Some owls sit in forests
  - gardens
* Some owls sit on battlements
  - mounds
  - plants
  - ridges
  - structures
  - stand in barns
  - swallow and tear they prey
* Some owls thrive in ground
* Some owls use lids
  - reproduction
  - sexual reproduction
  - their hearing to catch prey, too
  - upper lids
* Some owls wait for fish
  - watch ducks
* adapt characteristic features
* adapt, they have no other choice.
* also appear more bulky and less streamlined than most raptors
  - are very much a part of modern culture, in the sky as well as on the land
* also eat animals whole
  - lots of rodents
  - mice rats moles squirrels rabbits and skunks
  - snakes, or rabbits
  - find comfortable perches in the tree tops
* also have a distinctive facial disk which helps to direct sound towards the ears
  - moveable flap of skin controlled by muscles around the ear opening
  - third eyelid which keeps the eye moist and helps protect the eye
  - eyes that are adapted to night vision
  - powerful eyesight, even at night, which makes it easy to spot their next meal
  - special characteristics of remaining absolutely still and waiting for their prey
  - tubular eyes that increase the throw from the lens to the retina
  - very sharp talons that they can use to fight predators
  - wide parts in their carotid arteries just under the base of the skull
  - like to live in treeholes
* appear to be able to rotate their head completely around.
* are Strigiformes.
* are a bird of prey and are protected by federal law
  - that features prominently in the myths and legends of a variety of cultures
  - type of bird that usually hunt at night
* are able to fly silently
  - locate the sound source with high precision
  - turn three quarters of the way around and turn their heads very quickly
  - abundant in our area of South Dakota and an important part of the Lakota culture
  - active at night and make their living by catching and eating other animals
  - almost entirely nocturnal and they find themselves hiding in bushes all day long
* are also a major night time predator that can wipe out a colony in short order
  - often active when the moon is bright
  - among the few birds depicted on cave walls by prehistoric man
  - an omen of death in Vietnam
  - believed to be among the smartest of all birds
* are birds of habit and sleep in the same spot on their perch each day
  - prey or raptors
  - prey, like eagles
  - that live in trees
  - carnivores because they eat rodents and birds
  - common in the late forest
  - cute creatures that are covered with fur
  - excellent, stealthy hunters, capable of hunting in darkness and light
  - far more efficient than cats at clearing out a rodent-infested barn
  - fascinating birds with strange sounding calls and come in many shapes and sizes
  - fast and quite to catch food
  - forest creatures that hunt at night
  - found on all continents except Antarctica and on most oceanic islands
* are generally resident birds
  - territorial, defending an established home base against intruding neighbors
* are good hunters, and can fly very quietly
  - to have around a farm because they catch rats and mice
  - highly adapted and versatile predators
  - important to our gardens because they are great scavengers of mice and rats
  - interesting birds
* are known for their ability to fly nearly silently
  - serve as rodent control
  - greater forward-facing eyes and ear holes
  - mainly nocturnal birds, frequently heard before they are seen
  - meat-eaters
  - migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
  - most vocal during breeding season, making haunting hoots and scary screeches
  - night hunters that catch their prey and eat it whole
  - nocturnal and hunt at night
* are nocturnal birds of prey with noiseless flight
  - notorious for looking into nests to see their prey before reaching in and snatching it out
  - omens of mystery and danger
  - one of the only birds that can see the color blue
  - powerful birds and fiercely protective parents
* are predators , which means they are also carnivores
  - - they catch, kill and eat other animals in order to survive
  - predators, and most species are nocturnal
  - probably the greatest natural predators of bats in Britain
  - prominent predators of common raccoons
  - sexually mature after a range of five months to two years after hatching
  - smart and swift and very efficient
  - somewhat far-sighted
  - specialists at night-time hunting
  - stealth at night by virtue of their noiseless flight feathers
* are the only birds that blink the way humans do, by lowering their upper lids
  - who can see the colour blue
  - primary predator of skunks
  - their natural enemy and predator
* are thought to be somewhat far-sighted
  - have the most outstanding hearing of any animal
  - totally opposite
  - unique and amazing birds with many specialized characteristics and behaviors
  - usually out at night
* are very easy birds to identify
  - good at seeing
  - hardy and much less affected by stress than passerines and even some diurnal raptors
  - interesting birds, and one that many other types of birds are afraid of
  - territorial, especially during the breeding season
* are very unique birds of prey
  - voracious rodent and insect eaters
* are well known as being very versatile birds when it comes to their habitat
  - for being nocturnal, but some owls are active during the day
  - well-adapted for finding food in winter
  - wiser than other birds
* bite prey.
* blend in from camoflouge
* build nest in sports outbuilding.
* catch and eat the possums
  - fowl
* compete with the red-tails for nest sites.
* consume rodents.
* contain information for writers of all types.
* cope more easily with Late shifts.
* definitely are very independent birds in the wild, but they do have predators to worry about.
* depart at night and fly enormous distances on the first night.
* digest meals.
* do more than just hoot
  - most of their hunting at night and rely upon their hearing
  - their own decorating by dragging in manure
  - birds and spit out pellets which are feathers and bones
  - by swallowing and tearing
* eat by tearing and swallowing their prey
  - little mice at night
  - many animals
  - meat which is called prey
* eat mice and other small animals
  - and, when owls die, crows eat the owls
* eat mice, frogs, and snakes
  - squirrels, rabbits, birds and insects
  - mostly mammals
  - new-born babies
  - other animals, but few to no animals, depending on the food chain, eat mature owls
* eat rabbits, mice and small birds
  - rabbits eat plants
  - raccoons too
* eat rats and other little rodents
  - because they think they taste good
  - rats, mice, and rabbits
  - rodents like mice and voles
  - rodents, but they can t digest hair and bones
* eat small animals like rats, skunks, mice and rabbits
  - mammals like rats, skunks, mice, and rabbits
* eat smaller prey whole and larger prey in chunks
* eat snakes and rabbits a lot
  - because owls are in the higher level of the tertiary consumer chain
  - songbirds
  - their prey whole and then regurgitate the indigestible parts of their feast each day
  - voles and chipmunks
  - weasels, rabbit, and mice
* face conditions.
* feature in old war chants.
* feed entirely on living animals, mostly insects and mammals.
* feed on a variety of vertebrate animals
  - entirely living animals
  - mice, voles and small birds
* find prey to eat
  - their home in tree holes
* fly on soft and silent wings.
  - in the night, inquiring
  - really quietly when they spot their prey
  - silently at nighttime
* generally have a hunting territory away from their daytime roost
  - kill what's easiest to catch or find
* grab the nest and shake it, which disorientates the purple martin inside.
* gulp their food and swallow many bones along with the flesh.
* have a balance between hearing and seeing
  - cloaca, which acts as an opining for intestinal, reproductive and urinary tracts
  - few curious habits, too
  - growing role to play on the Internet and in the educational setting
  - low percentage of body fat during the warm months of the year
  - movable outer toe
  - poor sense of smell
  - specific nesting biology with their own terms
  - third, opaque eye membrane, called the nictitating membrane
  - variety of interesting breeding habits, but few make much of a nest
* have a very expressive body language
  - human visage
  - wider range of binocular vision than any other bird
  - amazing, highly developed hearing
* have an atlas even more favorably shaped for turning the head
  - unusual adaptation that involves their feet
  - another peculiarity
* have big eyes and see straight ahead
  - binocular vision, that is, both eyes are trained upon the same field simultaneously
  - bright eyes
  - ears off set on the sides of their head
* have excellent eyesights
  - sight and hearing
  - vision, both at night and day
  - extraordinary sight and hearing capability
* have extremely keen sense of hearing with the help of which they capture their prey at night
  - large eyes in proportion to the size of their heads
  - sensitive ears
  - eyes that contain more rods than cones and therefore have improved night vision
  - facial discs to bring the sound to their ears
  - far less down than most species of birds have
  - four toes on each foot, like most birds
* have good eye sight
  - vision all the time
  - heads like softballs
  - hidden ears under feathers
  - huge wings
  - keen hearing and keen vision in low light, both adaptations for hunting at night
* have large eyes and holes for ears , a hawk-like beak , and a rather flat face
  - that face forward as our eyes do
* have long round heads
  - sharp claws called talons
  - lots of feathers
  - many more rod cells than other animals
  - massive eyes relative to their body size
  - necks that are very flexible and are able to move their heads in all directions
  - round eyes
* have round heads, big eyes and flat facial discs
  - eyes, and flat facial disks
* have sharp claws, they eat mice and rats
  - talons to capture their food
* have short, sharp beaks and sharp talons to grab prey when flying low or diving from trees
  - thick bodies
  - soft fluffy feathers, which make the owls almost silent in flight
  - stiff feathers
* have the ability to see in the dark and fly noiselessly through the skies
  - best hearing of all birds
  - largest eyes of any species
  - most frontally positioned eyes of any animal
  - their eyes on the front of their faces just like people
  - vary diets
* have very sharp claws called talons
  - specialised eyesight so they can see in very low light levels
* hear very well so that they can catch their food.
* help control rodent populations.
* hunt animals
* includes air sacs
  - bird's feet
  - brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - lips
  - mouths
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - rib cages
  - second joints
  - sections
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - wishbones
* inhabit areas
  - forest habitats
* keep animals and insects that breed prolifically from overrunning areas of the world.
  - prey with their talons
* know when and where to show themselves.
* lack speed and maneuverability, using instead stealth and surprise to descend on their prey.
* lay eggs
  - white rounded eggs and the clutch size varies with the species
* learn to fly with lots of practice.
* like to eat raccoons
  - hang around buildings sometimes
  - hide and play in bushes
* like to live in barns
  - buildings, trees, and airports
  - raid the nests of crows and songbirds to make a meal of the baby birds
  - sit on tree trunks where they like to build their nests
  - spend summer nights perched on the highest branches and watch the floor below
* live in barns and owls live on farms
  - because they can blend in with the color
  - bushes, the forest, or in a cactus
  - cactuses and bushes too
* live in many places like barns, farms, and forests
* live in old buildings because some animals come into old buildings
  - places where it is very dark
* live in tree holes
  - woods and forests
  - mostly in tree holes
* look different than other birds.
* make their calls using low-frequency sound waves that carry over long distances
  - eerie calls
  - nest out of hollow trees
* nest in cavities
  - tree cavities
* nesting in California are primarily year-round residents.
* normally hide excess food and get back to find and consume later.
* offer another example of reverse sexual dimorphism.
* often hunt at night in the same area as a hawk hunted by day
  - pierce the evening's quiet with their eerie hoots
  - remove and eat the head and sometimes the neck of their prey
  - share territories with eagles and hawks
* only sleep in the day and hunt in the night.
* possess bodies
  - well-developed facial disk, with barn owls in particular
* prefer areas
* prey on a wide variety of voles
  - birds and other things to survive
  - birds, mice, and rats
  - flying squirrels as they glide from tree to tree
* protect themselves.
* regurgitate pellets of hair, bones, claws, and undigested parts of the small animals they eat
  - that contain undigested parts of things that they have eaten
* represent the souls of people who have died without having been avenged.
* scare other birds away
  - their enemy when it tries to attack it
* see perfectly well during the day, and exceptionally well at night
  - very well at night
  - their prey, usually a rodent or other small mammal, and kill it with their powerful feet
* share characteristics
* shed feathers.
* sleep during the day and emerge at night to hunt small prey
  - wake up at night to hunt for their food
* sleep in the day and are awake during the night
* sometimes eat small rabbits.
* sound just like hawks.
* spit the bones and hair out with the pellet
  - up pellets when they eat too much
* start calling near the road.
* still guard many secrets.
* survive by eating the large number of mice and other animals produced by nature each year.
* swallow animals
* swallow their food whole and then later spit up a pellet
  - regurgitate indigestible parts in the form of pellets
* swallow their prey bones, feathers, fur and all and cough the undigestible parts out later
  - whole because they have no teeth
* swallow their prey whole then they throw up pellets
* take field mice
  - good advantage of the crow's habit of spending the night in large, communal roosts
* use bills
  - lots of different calls to warn off unwelcome animals
  - small feathers on the beak and the feet that help it feel the prey it catches
* use their beaks to pick apart animals they eat
  - eyes to hear
  - hearing to help find prey
  - powerful feet and sharp talons to snare their prey
  - talons for defense
  - toes for perching, walking, grabbing, carrying
* usually sleep in the day and hunt at night.
* usually swallow their food whole, headfirst
  - vocalize at a low frequency
* view the drug problem as one of drug abuse, addiction, and associated disease.
* visit fields.
  - for prey perched atop towering palms
* weigh pounds.
+ Owl, Adaptations
  * Owls have large eyes and holes for ears, a hawk-like beak, and a rather flat face. Most birds of prey have eyes on the sides of their heads, but the owl's eyes are facing forwards to help it see better in the dark. Their eyes are also fixed inside their sockets, so they have to turn their whole head to look at other things. Owls can rotate their heads and necks up to 270 degrees in both directions.
  * Owls are good at looking at things far from its eyes, but it cannot see anything clearly within a few centimeters of their eyes. Owls use small feathers on the beak and the feet that help it feel the prey it catches
  - Adaptations, Swivelling the head
  * Owls also have wide parts in their carotid arteries just under the base of the skull. Researchers found these could dilate and fill with a reservoir of blood
+ True owl, Morphology
  * Typical owls vary greatly in size. The smallest is the Elf owl. Its weight is a hundred times less than the largest, the Eurasian Eagle owl and Blakiston's Fish owl. Most owls have very similar bodies. Handbook of the Birds of the World. They have large heads, short tails, and round facial circles around the eyes. The wings are large, broad, rounded and long. Like other birds of prey many owls have females that are larger than males. Earhart, Caroline M. and Johnson, Ned K. 1970.
  * Because of this the plumage is not much different between males and females. The feathers are soft and the base of each is downy. This give them silent flight. Hearing in owls is highly sensitive. The ears are asymmetrical which lets the owl localise a sound. Owls have massive eyes relative to their body size.
  * Owls' are birds in the order Strigiformes. There are 200 species, and they are all birds of prey. Owls are specialists at night-time hunting. They feed on small mammals such as rodents, insects, and other birds, and a few species like to eat fish as well.