Hoot Owls: Home in Florida Panhandle

The first ever man-made drawing of a bird was found on the cave wall in Les Trois Freres, France. The Cro-Magnon painting was of an owl. Scientists believe owls have been around at least 65 million years.

The name owl comes from the Old English word, ule, meaning 'to howl.' The Aztecs associated the owls with god of the dead. North America is home to nineteen owl species.

In studying the biology of owls, you discover their unique physiology. They have specialized beaks that curve downward. Feather structure equip the owl to fly with moth-like silence. Their feet and talons are more strongly curved than other raptors.

Quiet and stealth in flight, hoot owls are rowdy and noisy in courtship. Many owls mate for life. A baby owl is called an owlet who cracks open it's shell using an egg tooth. A nest of owlets is called a brood. A group of owls is called a parliament.

Owls have a heart shaped facial disk that helps collect sound and direct it to their ears to locate prey. Ears of owls are asymmetrical. Owls also have directional hearing to detect the exact location of dinner.

With double the vertebrae in their neck than all other mammals, Hoot owls can turn their head practically upside down. Owls have an opposable toe on each foot that can face forward or backward. Owls have the most versatile eyesight of all birds. Their tubular eyes, the size of a humans, fixed forward, give them a clear field of vision.

Researchers have studied the vocal communication between owls, analyzing the recording of several hundred hooters. They believe by the pitch of the hoot, the owls advertise their body weight to competitors.

Owls don't build their own nests but use an existing site. The squatter's will take over abandoned nests or burrow in hollow trees. A large owl can live to be thirty in the wild. In a zoo where they would have more protection they could live sixty years.

Owls were revered by the ancient native culture in pre-Americas. There have been a vast amount of pipes, bowls, beads, figurines and artifacts excavated bearing the symbolism of an owl.

Creek warriors carried owl feathers into battle in hopes of having extraordinary night vision. Cherokee scouts wore owl skin and imitated an owl's cry. Cherokee Indians claimed owls could predict victory or defeat in battle.

Owl broth was used regularly in folk remedies for childhood diseases. Owls foot or heart was thought to cure bad eyesight and heart disease. Alcoholism, epilepsy and gout were treated by eggs of owls.

Pablo Picasso was fascinated with owls. In his 1934 drawing, 'Bestiary' there are two owls hidden in the picture.

A wise old owl sat in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard
We should all take a lesson from that wise old bird.