Page 9 - Southern Exposure - October '21

Southern Exposure, Page 9

northern noteS

Owls – Silent And Effective Predators

By Katie Roundtree, Finance Director, Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District

Florida is home to five The unusually high campus has expanded, breeding pairs still exist on the
resident species of owls, number of light- grounds.
including the barn owl, sensitive cells in Next time you’re outside in wooded areas around dawn
barred owl, burrowing owl, their eyes, their large or dusk, look up; or if you’re in an open area, watch your
eastern screech owl and great pupils, and a reflective step and keep an eye out for ground burrows. You may be
horned owl. The largest of layer behind the retina lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of nature’s most
these owls is the great horned give them excellent accomplished predators.
owl, which is generally 18 nocturnal vision, NPDES tip: Please pick up after your pet. When pet
to 25 inches tall, followed useful when hunting waste is washed into lakes or canals the waste decays,
by the barred owl and barn at night or navigating using up oxygen and sometimes releasing ammonia.
owl. The eastern screech owl dark forests. Low oxygen levels and ammonia combined with warm
and burrowing owls are the Their ability to locate prey by sound alone is the most temperatures can kill fish. Pet waste also contains
smaller species and measure only about 6 to 10 inches tall. accurate of any animal that has ever been tested. Owls can nutrients that encourage weed and algae growth. Perhaps
All but the burrowing owl prefer to live high in trees, in catch mice in complete darkness in the lab, or find prey most importantly, it is considered a significant source of
either tree cavities or nesting boxes. Burrowing owls live hidden by vegetation or snow out in the real world. Their pathogens like fecal coliform, a disease-causing bacteria.
in areas with wide-open spaces and little vegetation and ears are placed unevenly on their head and point in slightly Source: Cornell University Cornell Lab of Ornithology
spend most of their time on the ground or in burrows. different directions, giving the ability to hear where a
Each of the species have their own distinctive sound is coming from without moving their heads. Owls
characteristics, but they all have one thing in common, can also funnel sound toward their ears by manipulating
they are voracious eaters and can consume thousands of different types of feathers around the ears and face.
small rodents in a year. Because of this, they are a welcome They are silent predators. Both primary and secondary
addition in most farms and neighborhoods. Owls are mainly feathers have comb-like structures at the edge of the feather
nocturnal creatures and have developed some amazing that are responsible for muffling the sound of the air going
adaptations to be successful hunters, such as the ability to over the wing – this essentially makes an owl virtually
rotate their heads 270 degrees, ears that are offset on the silent in flight. In addition, an owl’s feathers can separate
sides of their head in order to pinpoint location of prey, from each other on the same wing; therefore, the air flows
the ability to control feathers on their dish-shaped face to over each of the individual feathers and their comb-like
direct sounds into their ears, and comb-like structures on structures, which maximizes how silently owls fly.
their feathers to silence them in flight. Most of these species of owls are fairly common,
Owls cannot move their eyes in their eye sockets like however, the burrowing owl is Florida’s only state-
humans and most other animals. Instead, they can rotate designated threatened species of owl. Florida Atlantic
their heads up to 270 degrees (not 360 degrees like University’s Boca Raton campus was designated as a
sometimes believed) in order to view their surroundings. burrowing owl sanctuary in 1971 and even though the

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