The beauty of owls

Today we continue to at the diversity and beauty of owls. (All images are Courtesy of Unsplash unless otherwise stated).

Big and small and everything in between
The smallest owls are the Elf Owl and the Pygmy Owl, at just 15 - 20 cms tall and weighing 40- 50 grams. The Elf Owl often lives in a cactus!

Reports differ as to which is the biggest, but the The Eagle Owl, the Great Grey Owl, and the Blakiston Fish Owl, (which is also the rarest), are certainly amongst the largest and can weigh up to 2.7 kgs.

The sounds of owls

Great Horned Owls are especially known for the hooting sound that we all identify with, which involves two short, deep “hoo” sounds followed by a long “hooooooo.” However, not all owls hoot. Some make more of a hissing sound, and others more of a screech.

In Australia, we have The Barking Owl, which sounds a bit like a dog, and is also called The Screeching Woman Owl! Then there is the Eastern Screech Owl, and the Western Screech Owl, that are found throughout the rest of the world.

You can listen to some different owl calls here:

Famous owls
Whilst we may remember owls from our childhood stories, such as in Winnie the Pooh, and the bespectacled Wise Old Owls in cartoons, I think it is the Harry Potter owls that are most famous today; from Harry’s Snowy Owl, Hedwig, to Ron Weasley’s Eurasian Scops Owl, Pigwidgeon, Malfoy’s Eagle Owl, Ulysses, and the Weasley family’s clumsy Great Grey Owl, Errol.

The Prettiest Owls
And now, we leave you with this clip of the prettiest owls in the world. It is about 9 minutes long, but even just some of it is well worth watching……… Enjoy!