Fun Trivia » Animals » Specific Bird Species » Owls

This is one of several adaptations in owls that allows them to rotate their heads up to 270 degrees. Difficulty: Hard.

 

10, 7, 12

The disk functions something like a satellite dish. It collects and magnifies sounds made by animals so the owl can locate them accurately. Difficulty: Hard.

 

It refers to the round shape of the owl's face. It serves to intimidate prey and potential predators, giving the owl a formidable appearance., Actually there are two facial disks. It's the term used to identify the owl's eye sockets., It's a bony plate that surrounds the beak. It protects the nerves and muscles the owl uses to kill from movements made by struggling prey.

Because owls are birds of prey, they are often considered close relatives of the Falconiformes order. This order, often known as raptors (in a stricter sense of the word), encompasses hawks, eagles, some vultures, and other birds that hunt by day. However, taxonomists have recently determined that owls may be more closely related to nightjars, of the order Caprimulgiformes. Nightjars, a family of birds active mainly around dawn and dusk, are known for their very large mouths. In fact, these mouths earned nightjars the name "goatsuckers," as it was rumored in ancient times that they stole milk from goats. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Anseriformes (example: ducks), Struthioniformes (example: ostriches), Tinamiformes (example: tinamous)

Because owls are active at night, they need to have a highly developed auditory system to identify prey they cannot yet see. The tufts you can see on some owl species are just tufts of feathers - they are not ears. Owl ears are located at the sides of the head, behind the eyes, and are always covered by the facial disc. An owl's hearing is far more acute at middle frequencies enabling it to hear even the tiniest movement of prey moving in poor light.

Asymmetrical ear openings are prominent in the strictly nocturnal owl species, such as the barn owl or Tengmalm's owl. These species have a very noticeable facial disc, which acts like a "radar dish", guiding sounds into the ears. The disc shape can be altered on demand, using specialised facial muscles not found in other bird species. An owl's bill is also pointed downward, which increases the surface area over which sound waves are collected by the facial disc. Difficulty: Easy.

 

A genetic defect that has been perpetuated through the generation, An illusion, as all owls lean to one side giving the impression of asymmetrical ears, This is a myth which has no basis in truth

The barn owl hunts for mice and other small animals that can be easily spotted in open farmland. Other owls may be seen during the winter when food sources are not so readily available. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Snowy owl, Great gray owl, Screech owl

The absence of feathers combined with the extra blood flow keeps her eggs warm during incubation. Difficulty: Hard.

 

An area surrounding the nest that is off limits to other animals while her owlets are maturing., A spot of color on her throat that enables her young to identify her easily., A temporary membrane that grows over the point of her beak, preventing injury to her young when she grooms them.

The two families of owls are the typical and the barn owls. The typical owls contain about 167 species, and the 'barn' owls contain about 19 species. Barn owls are the most widespread species while typical owls are also known as the true owls. Difficulty: Hard.

 

one, three, four

Owl wing feathers have comb-like or fringe-like leading edges. These are referred to as "flutings" or "fimbriae". With any other bird in flight, air runs over the surface of the wing, creating a noisy turbulence. With an owl's wing, the fringe-like feathered edge breaks the turbulence into smaller units called micro-turbulences. This effectively eliminates the sound of the air passing over the wing surface, allowing almost silent flight. A hypothesis that the flutings actually move the sound energy from wingbeats to a higher frequency, where most creatures that are prey cannot hear, is a widely held belief but has not been proven.

Silent flight means owls capture prey by stealth. This adaptation is not present in owl species that daytime hunt. Difficulty: Average.

 

Feet, Beak, Tail feathers

Fishing owls do not have feathered legs because the feathers are not needed to protect them from the bites of their preferred prey: fish. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Screech owls, Spotted owls, Female owls

The type of prey an owl hunts is largely determined by two factors: the size of the owl (in relation to the size of the prey) and the availability of the prey. This prey can range from rodents to fish to insects, and there is similar variety in how the owls physically consume their meals. The most commonly observed method of owl feeding is the swallowing whole of an instantly killed animal, followed by regurgitation. Additionally, at least one study of short-eared owls noted that the owls ate mice piece by piece. These owls still swallowed the bones, and regurgitated "owl pellets." Finally, certain types of owl (such as the fish owl) swallow live prey. Difficulty: Hard.

 

They kill it instantly, swallow it whole, and regurgitate the inedible materials., They kill it instantly, tear the meat off the bones with their beak, and eat it in portions., They eat the prey alive, swallow it whole, and regurgitate the inedible materials.

While owls have soft-edged feathers, the majority of bird varieties have stiff feathers. The soft feathers result in silent flight which gives owls an advantage when hunting at night. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Firm edges, Brown coloration, Stripes

Owls are predatory hunters. Usually, they don't make great companions. You can train an owl to come to you, but it does so only for food rewards, not because you have a Lassie-Timmy thing going. Difficulty: Hard.

 

You have to acquire the owl as soon as it can leave the nest and keep it with you nearly all the time to acclimate it to being with a human., Much time has to go into training the owl when you first bring it home. Owls relax once they "get" the rules., Actually, most owls can be tamed if you routinely feed the owl and spend lots of time near its nest.

Barn owls are found in North America, Britain, and many other countries. Barred owls live throughout North America, primarily in eastern Canada and the United States. Owls can be found in Siberia and Africa as well--throughout all weather extremes. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Greenland, Iceland, Africa

Owls can spread their talons apart to have a better chance of catching prey. The talons are also designed to stab into the body of the prey, making it less likely to escape. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Five, Three, Six

It's critical to hunting success that the owl be able to approach prey without being detected. The extra feathers absorb the sounds made by the owl's flight. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Their circulatory systems are not as robust as other types of birds, and they need they extra covering for warmth., It's a characteristic that is no longer needed by the species. which is disappearing through the process of natural selection., To repel water.

The majority of owls are most active during the transition periods between night and day. At dusk, owls will vacate their daytime roosts in favor of an advantageous hunting perch. After arriving at this perch, owls will usually sing for a short period of time, and then do some hunting. Following the search for food, the owl will return to its perch and sing a bit more. This hunting-and-singing routine is repeated near dawn, and the owls return to their roosts as the sun comes up. In the intermediate hours, owls are largely unoccupied. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Midnight, Dusk only, Dawn only

Mother owls care for their young for several months. The fathers help by bringing food for the family and even taking a turn sitting on the eggs before they hatch. Difficulty: Average.

 

The father, The mother, The entire flock

All owl eggs are white, with occasional light speckling depending on the owl breed. Owl egg clutches are usually about four eggs, with some numbering up to a dozen. Depending on the breed, owl eggs can range from half an inch in diameter to about three inches. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Blue, Light brown, Gray

Most owls will nest in trees, while other species are ground-nesters but all are opportunistic, favouring natural nests like tree hollows or another bird species' abandoned nests. Four to 13 eggs are laid with the female rarely leaving the nest and she develops a brood patch, free of feathers, on her abdomen to provide warmth for the eggs. Owl chicks hatch with an egg tooth, a temporary beak protrusion common to all birds, which drops off soon after hatching. Chicks are blind at birth. Learning to fly is species specific but typically occurs between 5-8 weeks. The male delivers food to the nest up to ten times a day. Larger food items are torn apart and fed to the chicks in smaller pieces. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Elaborate: interwoven twigs lined with softer plant material, Hastily prepared sticks formed into a loose bowl shape, Owls do not make nests - they simply perch

Raptors are also called "birds of prey." This group includes several other types of birds such as hawks, falcons, eagles, and vultures. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Game birds, Shore birds, Buntings

Because owls often eat their prey whole, owl pellets often contain items such as the bones, fur and teeth of smaller animals. Scientists study owl pellets to research what different owls eat. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Discs, Tufts, Plumes

The owl's skeletal system must adapt to cover the inability of the owl to rotate its eyes. As such, the owl has fourteen cervical vertebrae whereas most other birds and nearly all mammals only have seven. It also has only one bone located on top of the backbone. Humans have two of these articulations. This allows the owl's head to pivot on the vertebral column and, given there are twice as many vertebrae, extra angular rotation is both possible and necessary. To make this supreme head rotation possible, the owl has adapted specialised musculature to support this feature and has developed an intricate carotid blood supply network to avoid 'kinks' during extreme head rotations. Difficulty: Average.

 

It can't - the owl must move its whole body to see anything peripherally, It can pivot extremely fast on one foot, It relies on acute hearing to notice anything outside its binocular field of vision

The first stomach has enzymes that start the digestive process. The second stomach filters out unusable items. These same items are then compacted into the owl pellet. Difficulty: Hard.

 

One, Three, Four

The earliest owl fossils date back as far as the Paleocene Epoch, the first epoch after the Cretaceous Period. This period is historically significant because it is the first era in which there were no dinosaurs. Many animals of the Paleocene Epoch are still around today, although in significantly different forms. The Paleocene owl, for example, was much larger than any owl species seen today. Some modern owl ancestors from the later Pleistocene Epoch could not fly. While many modern animals can be traced back to the Paleocene Epoch, diversity between animals was not typical of this period. It was not until the Eocene Epoch that real differentiation between types of owls (and other animals) was observed. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Eocene - about 56 million years ago, Oligocene - about 34 million years ago, Miocene - about 23 million years ago

Barn owls have distinctive feathers that absorb sound as they fly, helping them to remain silent while hunting. However, their feathers are not waterproof like those of other birds. They have a difficult time staying warm when wet and often cannot hunt in the rain. Difficulty: Hard.

 

night vision, singing abilities, scent ablilities

The "tooth" drops off after a few weeks. Birds aren't the only animals to have them--so do reptiles. If you're trapped inside an eggshell, you need a way to get out. Difficulty: Average.

 

A feature unique to owls that enables them to eat the eggs of other birds efficiently., A term for a weak spot inside an owl's egg that breaks open most easily., It's not a real "tooth"; it's a term for a structure on the owl's beak that enables them to kill more efficiently than other predatory birds.

The elf owl is found in parts of Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Measuring only 4.9 to 5.7 inches long (12.5 to 14.5 cm), they have a wingspan of about 10.5 inches (27 cm). They can be hunted by other large birds, such as hawks and even other owls. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pygmy, Screech, Saw-whet