Owls Found in North America

Recently I attended a dinner event after which the featured speaker was a naturalist from Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge, and the high point of her presentation was when she brought out a live Great horned owl for everyone to see up close.

Owl Facts
Unfortunately, I don't recall the name of the naturalist, but I do remember that she held a license to rehabilitate wild birds, and gave a very informative and entertaining lecture, complete with a PowerPoint slide show.
Since this area is New England, her chief concern was teaching us what owls are most likely to be found in our region, but several of them occur throughout the entire Northern United States. For example, the owl she showed us, named Webster, was a Great horned owl from Alaska, who only had one wing because someone had shot the poor thing and he was too injured for it to be saved, so he became an education owl. He did look very intelligent and wise. Great horned owls range all across the northern part of the country; the picture accompanying this article of a Great horned in the act of stretching is taken in a forest in San Francisco. Those aren't its ears on either side of its head, but feathered tufts, which look a lot like dead leaves and make good camouflage. An owl's actual ears are hidden and are just behind the facial disks, or the big circles around the eyes. Owls have their ears diagonally arranged, with the right ear being much higher than the left one, so they can tell if prospective prey is above or below while it is dark out. Owls also have really large eyes to let in all the available light. However, they don't have the intricate muscular system around their eyes the way humans do, so owls have to turn their heads to see. It is a common misconception that an owl can turn its head all the way around; they can only turn it 270 degrees each way. If an owl did turn its head 360 degrees, as the naturalist quipped, "Its head would pop right off!" This brought shrieks of laughter from the children that were present. For detailed information about owl habits, their biology, and recordings of their calls that you can play on your computer; both in general and specific to New England, click here. Also click here.

Common Owl Species
Owls are one type of bird, and one type of owl that is very common in the Northern US, including New England, is the Barn owl. They are very recognizable due to the shape of their heads and facial disks, which gives their faces an endearing heart shape. Another owl common to these parts is the Eastern screech owl, which isn't very large, but can emit a very eerie sounding set of calls. The Barred owl is often seen in this region, as is the Northern Saw-whet owl, the Snowy owl, and the Boreal owl. There is also a bird called the Hawk owl, which behaves more like a hawk than an owl, but it has the appearance of its owl cousins.

Size Variations & Wingspans
Owls range in size from pretty big birds, such as the Great horned owl, second only in size to the Great Grey owl; to the tiny Pygmy owl which is about the size of a large robin. Webster, our Great horned owl guest of honor, would have had a wingspan of over 4 feet-at several points he had to adjust his balance, because as the naturalist showed us he is kind of lopsided (on her arm, anyway; she said he does alright in his cage where he can perch on a branch)-it was remarkable how big his one wing was, and how it made almost no sound. All owls have lots of fluffy feathers in their wings, so they can fly at night quietly, and hunt more effectively.

Owlets
There were several slides showing the owlets, or young of the owl parents. In most cases, they are totally adorable; all covered with down, and have those huge eyes. Some have tiny ear tufts that stick straight out on either side of their litttle heads. The winner in the Cutest Baby contest was the Great horned owlets-they look very cuddly. Mommy, however, does not, and she would not be very happy if anything threatened her babies. When asked if owls could be pets, the naturalist reminded the audience that they are wild animals, so it isn't legal. She then talked about what to do in the case if one comes across a baby bird or owl-she said almost all birds (owls included) don't have a sense of smell, so the old wives' tale that the mother won't feed the baby again if it has been touched by a human is a myth. The mother and father birds are naturally more suited to taking care of the baby, though, so it is best to leave the little bird alone. The mother will feed it where it is-this happens a lot when the young develop their wings and try to fly out of the nest, and only make it a little ways. If there is a danger to the young bird, or a predator like a cat, she described making a little nest of grass or whatever inside a plastic container and putting the wayward birdie up in the tree, where it is safer. Mommy will find it, or hear it. If you know for sure that something has happened to the mother, you should get in touch with your town's animal control officer or the local chapter of the Audubon society so trained and licensed personnel can assess the situation and take proper care of the young. As the naturalist pointed out, baby birds can require feedings every 20 minutes and be quite demanding. This statement made all the human mothers in the audience roll their eyes or groan. To view a slide show of common owl species and their young, click here.

Additionally, during the question & answer period afterwards, someone asked, "When is the best time of day to see owls?" She answered, "Try at dusk, when it is first getting dark." Also, "I have an owl box that I have never set up. How should I go about doing that?" Answer: "Face it south; they like to have the sun come in. They don't need a lot of trees or branches in front of the box. We have several that are just mounted on top of poles."

For an intriguing excerpt about searching for signs of owls in Connecticut from a book written by a birding expert at National Geographic, click here.

Sources
http://www.asri.org/refuges/fisherville-brook-wildlife-refuge.html
http://aviary.owls.com/owls.html
http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?location=North+America
http://www.examiner.com/x-13230-Manchester-Bird-Watching-Examiner~y2010m3d16-Guide-to-New-England-owls-barn-owl-barred-owl-boreal-owl
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/view_default.asp?curGroupID=1&source=&parkid=&fromWhere=&searchText=&allSpecies=&shapeID=960&lshapeID=0&curAbbr=&lgFromWhere=&curPageNum=1&lastView=default&lastGroup=1&lastRegion=&lastFilter=4&lastShapeName=&trackType=&curRegionID=2206&size=&habitat=&fruit=&color=&sortBy=family&viewType=default&curFamilyID=®ionSelect=New+England®ionZIP=