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Tawny Owl

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                    iTawny Owl

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Strigiformes
   Family:  Strigidae
   Genus:   Strix
   Species: S. aluco

                                Binomial name

   Strix aluco
   Linnaeus, 1758

   The Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) is a species of owl resident in much of
   Europe and southern Russia.

   This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical
   owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping
   is the barn owls, Tytonidae.

   This is a medium-sized earless owl, 37-43 cm in length with a 81-96 cm
   wingspan. It is capable of killing prey such as Brown Rats. It is
   largely nocturnal and very sedentary.

   The Tawny Owl is found in deciduous and mixed forests and usually nests
   in holes in trees. Smaller woodland owls such as the Little Owl and the
   Long-eared Owl cannot usually co-exist with the stronger Tawny, and are
   found in different habitats. However, in Ireland, where there are no
   Tawnies, the Long-eared Owl is found in all suitable woodland.

   This species is stocky with a large rounded head and rounded wings. It
   occurs in two colour phases, rufous brown and greyish brown, with all
   intermediate forms. The pale underparts are streaked with brown and the
   facial disc is rather plain. The eyes are black. The Tawny Owl has a
   strong direct flight.

   This species probably injures more people than any other European bird.
   It is fearless in defence of its nest and young, and strikes for the
   intruders face with its sharp talons. Since its flight is silent, at
   night in particular it may not be detected until too late.

   The call of the Tawny Owl is the tu-whit tu-whoo immortalised by
   William Shakespeare. However, it is known today that this call is
   actually a compound of two calls; the quavering hoo-hoo-hoo by the male
   and the reply of kew-wick from the female.

   The Tawny Owl is believed to have the best developed eyes of all owls.
   Its retina has about 56,000 light-sensitive rods per square millimeter,
   enabling it to pick out prey several meters away by the light of one
   candle over 500 meters away. In low-level light conditions, this is
   about 100 times better than the eyes of humans.

   Hume's Owl, Strix butleri was formerly sometimes considered to be a
   subspecies of Tawny Owl, but is now classed as a separate species.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawny_Owl"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
