Last 2 Owl Prowls of the Year!!

With the owl breeding season here in Missouri winding down as the weather warms, we thought you might like to see some of the local owls that you may only hear when venturing out into the Missouri woods.

One of our commonest owls is the Eastern Screech Owl. 

 

Here you see two of The World Bird Sanctuary's most popular residents.  Twig is a good example of the grey phase of this charming little owl, and our ever popular Acorn is a good representative of the brown, or red color phase.  You are most likely to hear these small owls calling in the early hours of the morning, just before dawn.  Their call is not the typical call associated with owls.  It is more of a high pitched trill, with a quavering 00-0-0 toward the end - best described as "Who-oo-oo-o-o"

Even though they are unbearably cute, ounce for ounce they are one of the fiercest little predators in the bird kingdom.  If you are able to visit us, look for Acorn and Twig in the weathering area behind our Nature Center.

Another of Missouri's resident owls is the Great Horned Owl--the flying tiger of the bird world.  While it's miniature look-alike, the Screech Owl, preys mostly on small rodents and insects, the Great Horned Owl is equipped to take much larger prey--even at times preying on skunks!

You might hear a pair of these large owls calling to each other after dark.  Listen for the male's deep "ho-ho-hoo-hoo-hoo" and then a higher pitched "girlie" "ho-ho-hoo-hoo-hoo" answer.

Here you see Junior, one of our popular education birds, whose egg was found on a coal conveyor belt.  The egg was brought to the Sanctuary, and Junior was hatched in one of our incubators.  The year before, we had received another egg laid on the same coal conveyor belt, and hatched out a Great Horned Owl that we named Coal.  We believe the same female laid both eggs.  Both Coal and Junior help to educate thousands of audiences each year about their species.

The other most commonly heard owl in Missouri's forests is the Barred Owl.  He has a most distinctive call, usually described as "Who cooks for you?  Who cooks for you-all?"

Here you see our resident (and vocal) barred owl, Shakespeare.  He is one of the star performers of our Owl Prowl programs--often delighting young visitors by answering their "hooting" attempts.

Owl Prowls are over for this season -- but watch for them to begin again late next fall.