Long-eared owl

The long-eared owl is a medium-sized owl found throughout Herethear, Pasia, Taolim, and mostly Parania. The owl shows a partiality for semi-open habitats, as these owl breeds tend to nest within dense, humid timberlands of trees but yearn to hunt over open ground. This species is a rather slim and long winged owl with usually prominent erectile ear tufts, which are positioned closer to the center of the head than in many other types of owl. The purposes of ear tufts are not definitively known and are present in about half of living owls. Arguably the most popular theory amongst biologists and ornithologists is that ear tufts could be a means of intraspecies communication of intent and mood. In general coloration, the long-eared owl is often considered a hue of ochraceous-tawny with a grayish or brownish wash variably manifesting. The base color is commonly overlaid with variable blackish vertical streaks (and occasionally spots), which are usually more apparent about the wings and back. The scapularsare usually marked whitish, which provide further contrast when seen against the base color and blackish markings. The wing's dark carpal patches can also display broad panels of buff or almost orange on the wings across the base of primaries, which represent a more richly emphasized version of a pattern shared with other owls that tend to be vole-hunting specialists, like short-eared owls (*Asio flammeus*) and great gray owl (*Strix nebulosa*). On the underside, the body tends to be a somewhat paler ochraceous-tawny compared to the upperside. Long-eared owls tend to have dusky streaks on the upper breast, below which they may be heavily marked with herring bone pattern (which is created by dusky shaft-streaks and crossbars on these feathers). There is much individual and regional variation in markings with owls dwelling in more extensively forested regions tending to be of a darker hue, often so densely washed above as to appear largely dusky brown on the back and the underside largely overlaid with bolder dusky-blackish marks. Meanwhile, in some desert-like regions, the plumage may tend towards a somewhat more washed out look, at times appearing fairly cream or yellowish, with sparser and lighter dusky markings overall. The facial disc is visibly well developed and variably colored (see subspecies) in the species, rimmed dusky often with white running down along the center through the bill, while at times the white lines form a “moustache” and/or extending to the inside of the facial disc rim. The ear tufts are usually dusky in front and paler tawny on the back. Long-eared owl possess a blackish bill color while its eyes may vary from yellowish-orange to orange-red, tarsi and toes feathered.

## Predators

Great-horned owls and humans manage to be the crucial and apex predator of this owl. Other birds like Black-billed magpies crows and red-tailed hawks are known to eat the eggs and newborns of this glorious owl. Long-eared owls tend to inhabit usually rather open landscapes with groups of trees, hedgesor small woods, as well as pastureland with rows of trees and bushes, any type of forest with clearings, forest edges, semi-open taiga forest, swampy areas and bogs, especially those with willows, alder and poplars, orchards with old fruit trees, parks, cemeteries with trees and bushes, even gardens and timbered areas in villages, towns or cities.

## Prey

The long-eared owls derives almost of its food energy from rodents. Among this order, they are usually associated with a single group, the voles. The life history of the long-eared owl is inexorably linked to voles. Voles, members of the family Cricetidae and subfamily Arvicolinae, are often numerous, small-to-medium-sized rodents with relatively short tails.