I was on a walk with some experienced birders a year or so ago and they were talking about the cat collars they have seen high up in trees. I was shocked that great horned owls can take cats like that. And wallabies?! Yikes!!!

It seems to me that owls are quite adaptable in terms of diet. I was surprised to learn that some (many) owls eat insects. If I owned a cat, I would be worried to let it outside after this lesson! I am wondering if we'll be learning about owl pellets during this course?

I saw, in one of the lessons, that a Great Horned Owl, can hunt, up to the size of a Cat. I would love to see a picture of a larger Owl species, in a fight with a Cat. Or even a Grouse. It seems the Owls, usually go after smaller vertebrates. But if there is a picture of a larger Owl, hunting a medium/small vertebrate, it must be awesome. OWL vs. CAT, or OWL vs. GROUSE.   It would have to be a larger/largest Owl. Great Horned Owl / Fish-Eagle-Hawk Owl.          ??   I did not know there was a Fish Owl, or a Hawk Owl, or an Eagle Owl. Kinda like the Osprey, to Eagles and Hawks. Same family, but a little different.

I was surprised to learn that some owls eat moths, and how many owls eat insects.

I wasn't aware there were fishing owls or that an owl would eat a wallaby.  When I was a teacher, I gave my class of 30 7th graders the task of owl pellet dissection.  29 showed the usual voles/rodents and 1 was full of black feathers.  The kids were amazed!

I have personally seen Short-eared Owls hunting bats. So whatever they can catch will be fair game for food.

Before this course I hadn't heard of fishing or fish owls. Ospreys and other fishing eagles were familiar, but not the fishing owls.

I am definitely surprised that there are owls that specialize in eating moths and beetles! I knew about most of the other diets.

Most of the owl's prey makes sense when you look at the owl because owls have features to help them hunt for their diet. For example, owls with strong and sharp talons would most likely hunt birds or small mammals. However, I found it surprising how a small owl could hunt another bird. This proves what amazing hunters owls are, and how skilled they are.

I had no idea that owls ate insects, or that some ate cats.  That is why it is dangerous t leave your cat out also at night, besides other dangers. I also didn't know that some some owls are out in the daytime, as I have never seen one.  This is a very interesting course, and I am really enjoying it.

I had no idea owls ate insects. I thought they all ate rodents.

I had no idea the variety of talons and prey among owls.  This explains why the Great Horned Owls hang out in and around our yard at night, as our area also attracts opossum, cats, raccoons, etc.

Great Horned Owls take house cats here in Alaska. Not safe to let house cats roam at night. I'm not really surprised, but I'm impressed that Snowy Owls can take ducks on the water, and the fishing owls are impressive too. Owls that can take monkeys are kind of intimidating!

I was most surprised to learn that owls that are similar in size can eat very different kinds of prey, and that you can tell what type of prey they eat by looking at their feet.

The wide range of the diet of the Great Horneds.  There is one chapter dedicated to the diet of this species in "The Owl Papers" by Jonathan Evan Maslow.  He quotes "the partial list of items in the Great Horned  Owl's diet"  by Dr. A. K. Fisher, "after dissecting some hundreds of owl stomaches, ...three species of rabbits, cotton rat, two species of pocket gofer, two species of wood rat, chipmunk, two species of grass hopper mice, white footed mouse, common rat, two species of ground squirrels, musk rat, fox squirrel, five species of meadow mice, house mouse, flying squirrel, common shrew, kangaroo rat, scorpions and crawfish." I also read the Great Horneds take down skunks..  How good is their sense of smell?? Another fascination point is the size of prey - I'm always amused by the optimistic and bold choice of prey of the pygmy owls - I read they take down prey larger than themselves (and sometimes lose...)

Fish owls surprise me, usually you would't think of an owl as a fish eating animal, but apparently they are! It also surprises me how some eat birds.

The part about owls eating birds is sorta sad. But, animals do what they must to survive.

I'm surprised owls can eat animals as large as wallabies! Does anyone know if owls ever eat snakes?

I found it fascinating about the different talons on the owls determine their diet. I didn’t know this. I assumed all owls eat rodents. I was amazed at the Eurasian Eagle owl’s talons.  I found out they can take down a small deer!  Truly amazing birds!  

I had no idea owls ate insects.

It is very interesting to know more about the relationship between the structure of an owl’s feet (e.g., toe alignment, size of toes & talons) and its preferred foods.