I heard it's Superb Owl Sunday so I have prepared some superb owls for you.
The barn owl is the most widespread species of owl, living on every continent except Antarctica. Their faces are shaped like a disk to help their hearing, giving them some of the best hearing of any owl. They mostly hunt by sound.
Snowy owls are the largest arctic predatory birds, They are born with black feathers and get whiter as they age. Females usually have more dark feathers than males.
Eastern screech owls have a few feather variants that make them look like completely different species.
The southern white-faced owl can increase its metabolic rate during winter to compensate for the cold and lack of food. They lay their eggs in nests built and abandoned by other birds.
The great grey owl is the largest owl by length, but a lot of that is feathers and they're actually very light for their size. Their hearing is good enough to hear rodents burrowing through snow and they can break through hard-packed snow to catch prey.
Blakiston's fish owl is the largest owl by mass and eats mostly fish. Despite the name, they may be more closely related to eagle owls than fish owls.
The elf owl is the smallest owl species, barely larger than a sparrow. They hunt bugs and play dead when caught. They like to live in holes in saguaro cacti.
Burrowing owls live in underground burrows. While they can dig, they mostly take over burrows from other animals. Farmers killing prairie dogs has severely reduced burrowing owl populations. They decorate their burrows with feces to attract bugs to eat.
The barking owl is called that because
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Its nice to have a day to appreciate superb owls. Feel free to spread the love by reblogging with some more owl facts.
Commonly known as the deer tick, this species is a vector for several diseases, most notably Lyme disease. In most cases, the tick must be attached for at least 36 hours to transmit the disease.
Photos 1-3 by allysonv, 4 (for scale) by adeans, 5 (engorged) by duncan10, and 6 (male - all others are female) by sambiology
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I'd like to introduce everyone to this little fella!
This is most likely an eastern cottontail, though there is some debate that it may be a new england cottontail but that's unlikely.
Now normally I am very against feeding/interacting with wildlife on regular occasions but this guy is a special case.
See I'd been going out to put seed out for wild birds for a few months now, sitting nearby to take pictures of them to the point that they'll land around me, fly over when they hear my footsteps and just have a general understanding that I'm not going to hurt them.
Then I notice a little bunny hop out from under the brush a bit wary, but I stay still so I don't scare it and can hopefully get some pictures. He ended up, over a few days getting more familiar and eventually tipping over the scoop I use for the bird feed while being less than a foot away.
It really is a neat thing for wild animals to come to the understanding that you aren't going to hurt them, just enough trust to hang around you.
He's absolutely adorable and I love this little fella
Nearly all of the friends coming in the Etsy update Thursday Feb. 1st at 5pm et. Will have the Batstarion mugs and some Spectacled flying fox mugs as well!