Today is all about our big-eyed, hooting, night-loving birds of prey, and spreading awareness about them. Owls have long captivated us with their mystery and perceived wisdom (in western culture), but their representation in pop culture media, folklore, and material possessions does not always do these magical creatures justice.

Owls are very incredible birds. They are the only nocturnal birds of prey, most species hunting at night. Their most profound features are their large, forward-facing eyes; broad heads; small, hooked beaks; asymmetrical ears and binaural hearing; sharp, grasping talons, and their upright postures. Although their most famous call is hooting, owls have an array of distinctive calls, including chirps, barks, yelps, beak snaps, whistles, and screeches. Young owls are called owlets. Owls are divided into two families: the true (or typical) owl family, Strigidae, and the barn-owl family, Tytonidae. Although not as colorful as most birds, owls tend to mimic the coloration and sometimes the texture patterns of their surroundings, camouflaging into the environment, making them nearly invisible to prey. Because owls are nocturnal predatory birds, they occupy the same ecological niches of their diurnal counterparts (eagles, hawks, falcons), hunting the same animals, in the same environments, but never competing with each other directly. In America, the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) is the nocturnal ecological equivalent to the red-tailed hawk. Owls hunt small mammals, insects, other birds, and bats. Some species specialize in hunting fish, like fish owls, and some species will hunt medium-sized animals, ranging from hares to deer, like the Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo). After the owls feed, they regurgitate the indigestible parts of their prey (like bones, feathers, and fur) as pellets. These “owl pellets” are formed in an owl’s gizzard, where hard remains become trapped. The gizzard compresses them into a smooth shape for regurgitation. They are plentiful and easy to interpret and are often sold by companies to schools for dissection by students as a lesson in biology and ecology. A group of owls is called a “parliament”.

What makes the owl a very effective nocturnal predator are its eyes, ears, and wings. Their frontally placed eyes are sensitive enough to see in the dark more effectively than most nocturnal species, and face forward to maximize binocular vision, possessing the best stereoscopic vision of any bird. Contrary to popular belief, owls are not instantaneously blinded by bright lights. However, the size of their eyes has them fixed in their sockets, preventing them from looking to the side. Instead, it has a flexible neck that helps the owl rotate its head and neck as much as 270° and tilt it up and down through 90°. Several groups of owls have asymmetrical ears, the openings differing in position and size. This unusual arrangement helps give them powerful hearing. Even in winter with their prey hiding under a thick blanket of snow, they can hear them as clear as a bell, and pin them down with lethal accuracy. Their hearing is said to rival those of microbats. However, despite their highly acute hearing, they cannot hear the sound of their own wings, but neither can their prey. Owls have silent wings. The secret lies in the design of the flight feathers. They have delicately fringed, serrated edges on the forward edges, and a soft, velvety surface to cushion airflow. This makes the owl one of the most effective predators in nature.

Throughout human history, owls have always enchanted us. In Ancient Greece, the owl was associated with wisdom, with the little owl (Athene noctua) serving as the revered bird of the Greek Goddess of wisdom, Athena, and thus the bird is the symbol of her city, Athens. And because Athena was also the goddess of war, the little owl was seen as a good omen in battle. The sight of the bird would ensure victory in war. In Ancient Egypt, the owl was used to represent the letter m in hieroglyph writing, just as the vulture for the letter a. According to Hinduism, the owl was the vahana (mount or divine vehicle) of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.

While they have been a popular symbol of wisdom, they were also linked with nighttime, darkness, magic, witchcraft, otherworldliness, and death. Unlike the Ancient Greeks’ reverence of the owl and its association with wisdom, the Ancient Romans believed they were evil creatures and feared messengers of death. It was also associated with witches and vampires, its calls heralding the arrival of the former, and it would suck on people’s blood like the latter, usually sleeping infants. And in contrast to the Greeks’ belief that an owls’ presence during a war warranted victory, the Romans saw it as a sign of immediate defeat. In Taoist China, the owl was depicted in a negative light, as a violent bird of the night, in contrast to the bat’s positive depiction. In Ancient Sumerian and Babylonian culture, owls, particularly screech owls, were associated with Lilith, who was often depicted as a fearsome goddess with the wings and the taloned feet of an owl.

In Medieval times, owls continued being seen as birds of darkness, gloom, magic, sorcery, and witchcraft. Because of their nocturnal lifestyle, they were seen as agents of the devil, alongside bats, crows, cats, wolves, toads, and snakes. Owls, like cats, would act as animal familiars to witches. The owls’ association with magic and darkness has even used Tchaikovsky’s ballet, Swan Lake. Its villain, the evil sorcerer, Von Rothbart, is depicted as an owl-like figure, serving as the dark, predatory anthesis of his prisoner, Odette, who he turned into a white swan in his attempts to marry her. A century later, former Disney animator, Don Bluth, produced an animated film based on the comedy play, Chantecler, called Rock-a-Doodle. In this rendition, the main antagonists are a flock of light-hating owls led by their Grand Duke, who uses magic to stop those who interfere with his plans to get rid of the rooster, Chanticleer, and prevent the sun from rising, ushering in eternal darkness, much to the villainous owls’ delight. However, not all owl associations with spellcasters are viewed negatively. In J.K. Rowling’s famous fantasy series, Harry Potter, owls are kept by witches and wizards as familiars and pets and are even trained to deliver mail. This association would continue in Disney Channel’s show, The Owl House.

Today, the most popular view of the owl in the modern West is that of a benevolent, wise old bird, in contrast to the ominous, baleful, vampiric agents of evil and darkness of ancient times. In literature and films, owls are most often portrayed as sagacious figures. The most well-known of these wise literary owls was the owl from A.A Milne’s much loved children’s book, Winnie the Pooh. Owl was a gentle, respected sage who was consulted on difficult questions, and being very talkative, he would ramble on into long-winded speeches and use words that a bear with very little brain would understand. Despite actually being scatterbrained (he spelled himself WOL), he introduced the idea of an owl as a helpful, learned, grandparental figure. The portrayal of the owl as an evil harbinger of doom has been largely relegated to a superstitious past. Eventually, owls would have their own story in Kathryn Lasky’s well-known owl-centric high fantasy series, Guardians of Ga’Hoole. In the series, a young barn owl named Soren joins an order of heroic owls known as the Guardians, and combat forces of evil owls, including the Pure Ones, a Tyto-supremacist order seeking for world domination, and the Hagsfiends, an ancient race of half-owl, half-crow birds with dark magic.

In the World of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, there is one owl, “hoo” stands out from the rest. Twilight Sparkle’s adopted owl, Owlowiscious. He also serves as her nocturnal assistant, covering Spike while he’s asleep. Reflecting both Twilight’s intelligence and her skills in magic, this smart bird plays the dual role of the wise owl in Ancient Athenian Greek/Modern Western culture and the familiar of wizards and witches. He is not the only Strigiformes. There are three other owls that dwell in Equestria, and even in the Equestria Girls World. Fun fact: The other owls were the initial concept designs for Owlowiscious. When it comes to owls in the world of My Little Pony, they’re definitely a hoot. ;) (Wink)

Although owls are not facing the dangerous plight Old World vultures face today, there have been some species that are lost forever. These include the prehistoric stilt-owls (Grallistrix), long-legged terrestrial species which lived on the Hawaiian Islands; the laughing owl (Ninox albifacies), also known as whēkau or the white-faced owl, of New Zealand, which went extinct in 1914, and the flightless Bahaman great owl (Tyto pollens), also known as the Andros Island barn owl or the Bahaman barn owl. These birds may be extinct, but there is still a way we can prevent those alive today to face a similar fate. Owls serve as pest control, culling the populations of rodents that decimate crops and spread diseases. You can attract these wild neighbors to your own yard by building nestboxes! It is important to do your research before installing a nestbox; an improperly installed nest box can do more harm than good. There are many ways you can help owls. Go to this website for more details - International Owl Awareness Day | American Eagle Foundation (eagles.org) So, let’s give a “hoot” to our night-loving owls! They deserve it.

I submitted this on DeviantArt last year. To tell the truth, I made this pic back when I had an interest in owls, somewhere in December of 2021. I got a really cool owl T-shirt from a Blackcraft Cult store, and owls really enchanted me. After making the vectors of Owlowiscious and the others, I planned on posting this for Earth Month, until I learned about Owl Appreciation Day, then I decided to post it then, on August 4th. Currently, my interest in owls has passed for now, but I still admire them. They are such incredible birds, and I’m honored to be referred to as a Night Owl, since I stay up late.

Vectors by me

Here’s to our nocturnal, wise, spooky, beautiful birds of the night. Let’s give a “HOOT” to them! And then next month is Vulture Awareness Day!

#owlawarenessday