The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › The Wonderful World of Owls › Find the Hidden Owl
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Bird AcademyBird AcademyWhat's the most memorable piece of information you learned in this course? Join the conversation in the discussion below!You must be enrolled in the course to reply to this topic.
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I've learned so many interesting things about owls through this course. One of them was that some owls hunt by sight and others by sound. Picking mice out of the snow 18 inches down?! That's amazing to me.
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Hard to pick just one. The amazing diversity and worldwide presence of owls perhaps. I loved the section on owls in art. My image is a contemporary representation of a barn owl my daughter gave me. Some of my interest in this topic was fueled by reading The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar: Living With a Tawny Owl by Martin Windrow. As I was finishing the book I encountered a tawny owl & the largest European owl outside a Scottish National Trust shop in Edinburgh, both rescued and unable to return to the wild but trained to help educate the public to the need for environmental care. I’m currently reading Carl Safina’s book Alfie and Me about a rescued Eastern Screech Owl and a history of Euro~American ideas about humans’ relationship to the natural world. This has just been an amazing course!
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owl feather structure and purpose facial disc use to adjust listening distance hunting method through snow grabbing blind how to find them
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Definitely the different owl sounds!
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As I continue taking the class, there will probably be many memorable things I will learn and love sharing with others. However, to me right now, I am amazed by how much owls can eat in a year and how many species of owls there are! I also enjoyed seeing the various art pieces made by many different cultures to celebrate or revere owls.
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The most memorable piece of Information I learned in this course is... all of it! I love owls so much and I had asked my mom to get me this course for months! I especially loved the part with the owl carvings and creations from ancient civilizations!
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It's a little bit of trivia, but it was interesting that the Egyptians glyphs had other animals, and people, in profile, but the owl was seen head-on. This extends to current applications of owls in image form too, most bird emojis are profile, with the owl being the exception. Their front facing eyes, facial disk, and prominent downturned beak make them more distinguished when viewed from the front! Owls, despite (or perhaps because of?) their mostly nocturnal nature, are a very big part of human culture cross the world, extending into popular culture today. I had also never heard of, or considered, that there were owls that went after fish. These owls look quite similar to hawks or falcons, vs the traditional depiction of an owl.
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I think it was the assortment of prey items they can have with the sounds compared to esp. non-birds coming a close second.
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To me it was the different meanings of the owl calls. I always wondered about what birds were saying.
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There are more varieties of owls in my area than I realized. I have seen owl pellets but didn't realize what they were; now I know to look up when I see them. Plus so many different calls from owls all over the world!
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I was surprised at how many owl species there are across the world. I love listening to all their songs and calls. One thing that stuck with me is how the size of their talons depends on the major source of prey.
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The ear tuft on the owl's head is actually used for communication! and display?
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The diversity of owls was what amazed me the most. I was especially surprised to learn that Snowy Owls are able to hunt sea birds in open water!
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I loved this whole course but I found it fascinating how they have different calls and how unique some owl sounds were. Their camo ability always impresses me. I also was surprised to hear that no owl can see in total darkness but needs a little light. I was amazed about how widespread Barn owls are. I also enjoyed the pointers on how to find owls as that is a great difficulty for me for some reason.
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I found it fascinating to learn that the ears of an owl are not directly across from each other and that their unusual position allows them to detect sounds from above and below. I also adored the call of the Northern Saw-Whet Owl...it does sound like a truck backing up! Lastly, I was surprised to learn that owl heads do not turn any differently than other birds and that their head rotation is an illusion caused by the feathers hiding their neck. So cool!
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For me, I feel like the most notable piece was the fact about an owl's neck/head-turning. I'd always thought that feature was exclusive to owls and never realized how that's a trait found throughout most bird species. I also found the tidbits about owl skulls and how their eyes are fixed in place a lot of fun. Especially when I connected the dots and realized that was why they turn their heads so much. In terms of actual, whole course segments, I found the section about owl calls to be a ton of fun. Hearing all those different sounds really endeared me to some species I'd never really thought about before. (Mainly the Black-and-White Owl and how it sounds like it gets startled at the end of its call.)
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There is so much to choose from that is memorable. I would have to go with listening and knowing their calls to identify them, and ways people can help them like building nesting boxes.
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For me, it is the "Hoots, Toots, and Screech" segment of Owl sounds. I really enjoyed hearing the sounds of the different types of Owls!
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I particularly enjoyed learning: - the many different species - I knew there were quite a few, but didn't realize there are 234 - silent flight and the anatomy of their eyes and ears - the irruptive nature of some species and why - was also fascinated to note the max. life spans of the owls that are in my area Thank you for a great course.
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I enjoyed the Barred Owl duet!
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I really enjoyed this course. I love the fact I know more information about owls especially learning how to find them since I always wanted to find myself an owl. This course made me more aware of the owls around me. I’ll keep an eye out if I see any pellets, white wash, and have my window open at night if I ever hear a hoot. This course also motivates me to get myself a nest box for owls in my back yard.
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This course is wonderful. I enjoyed every moment, every video, every photograph, every teaching, every link. It is a very complete course of owls. I learned their characteristics, sounds, how they live, how they reproduce, where to find them and how to do it, I learned aspects of the biology of a large number of species of owls from all over the world that I hope one day to. I´m very grateful to Bird Academy and our teacher Kevin McGowan for their invaluable teachings. Thank you very much Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), Orinoquía Region, Colombia
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I learned so much I don't really know where to begin. I think looking for whitewash and pellets along with learning to recognize their calls will help me the most. They are amazing birds!
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