There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
In Jackson Hole, we were lucky enough to be directly in the "path of totality" for yesterday's solar eclipse. It was a neat experience, but I was especially happy that the sun's rays had returned in full to illuminate this absolutely beautiful great gray owl that I found later in the day.
04-11-2018, 03:24 AM( This post was last modified: 04-13-2018, 05:19 AM by Tshokwane )
Credits to Ghost Bear.
It can be extremely difficult to determine the age of a great grey owl, but not impossible. One method (albeit with mixed results) is to look closely at their feathers.
Great greys molt (shed) their flight feathers annually after their first year of life. As the owl ages, they tend to show more colour variations - from dark brown to lighter grey (the latter being the result of sun bleaching according to some studies). Juveniles, on the other hand, often have light tips at the end of their tail feathers and very little feather variation or barred colouring on their body.
Even with this technique, determining age is difficult and many studies into other methods have been inconclusive. In fact, it’s quite surprising how little research has been done on the Strix nebulosa – an owl that is the largest of its species by wing span in North America and one of the tallest, yet weighs only 2-3lbs.
Determining the sex of the great grey owl is almost impossible. A general rule of thumb is to observe the size, especially in comparison to its mating partner during nesting season. Female great greys are, for the most part, larger than the males, though it’s not a hard and fast rule – age also factors into determining the owl’s heft.
Here’s a fun fact: Great grey owl ears are positioned a bit differently on each side of their head. They possess asymmetrical ears - the right ear opening is slightly lower than the left to enable a type of triangulation assistance that enables them to locate elusive prey beneath deep snow. Paired with their dished face, which acts as a satellite to capture the slightest sound, great grey owls have been using these skills to hunt since before the last ice age – techniques that took humans until the early 20th Century to discover and design for their own use.
08-04-2018, 10:34 PM( This post was last modified: 08-04-2018, 10:41 PM by epaiva )
The photographer was taking pictures of a juvenile Great Horned Owl when suddenly the father appeared with a juvenile Barn Owl it hunted and as fast as its parent left the Barn Owl the juvenile Great Horned Owl started to eat it.
Credit to @vishal_subramayan_photography
