According to the World Owl Trust, all owls are predators and the size of the prey is generally reflected by the size of the owl. Hunting, normally, is performed in two different ways. The first is perch hunting, where the bird literally sits and waits on a suitable perch until a prey item is located. The other technique is flight hunting where the owl slowly quarters the ground from a low altitude, looking and listening for prey and diving down when food is detected. The length of the wings is normally a good indication of the preferred method of hunting – short wings for perch hunting and long wings for flight hunting.
Most owls are opportunists and virtually anything that moves is fair game. Some species are more specialized feeders, in particular the Fish and Fishing Owls. These are two genera of owls, one from Asia and the other from Africa whose members feed mainly on fish, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, snatched from beneath the water surface.
The owl in this photograph is a Burrowing Owl and is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other dry, open area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day, although they tend to avoid the mid-day heat. Most hunting is still done from dusk until dawn, when their owl instincts are most advantageous.
Burrowing owls are easily detected by their bright yellow eyes.
A Burrowing owl searches for food in the heat of the midday sun.
Leave a note.