Why are owls so wise? Perhaps it's because they're utter badasses.
Ferocity is essential for a bird whose frigid, spotty range extends across northeastern China, the Russian Far East and up toward the Arctic Circle, one that breeds and nests in the dead of winter, perched atop a giant cottonwood or elm tree, out in the open, in temperatures 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Dr. Slaght’s colleague Sergei Surmach videotaped a female sitting on her nest during a blizzard. “All you could see at the end was her tail jutting out,” Dr. Slaght said.
The New York Times Science section gives an update on some current owl research.
[more inside]
posted by medusa
on Feb 28, 2013 -
46 comments
Owls are rad. Sometimes they look kind of
metallic and scary, sometimes
wise, sometimes
puzzled, and sometimes like
skulls, (
Index); sometimes they
sound like dogs or pigs, sometimes they
sound like a little train, sometimes they
sound alarmed, (
Index of MP3s); sometimes you come across an
extensive gallery of Central and North American owls with
pictures,
ranges,
video, and even a description of
the '04-'05 Northern Owl Invasion; sometimes it's a
dynamic range map of Owls of the Western Hemisphere; sometimes it's the
OwlCam homepage with
downloadable owl movies, sometimes it's a
series of articles on all things owl; sometimes at
BiologyBase it's a printable
owl sighting lifelist, sometimes it's
Ruru, the morepork, New Zealand's native owl at
NZBirds. Or,
w0t! w0t!, it's
attracting barn owls and
building nest boxes at World Owl Trust.
Previous MeFi birding FPP.
posted by OmieWise
on Mar 28, 2006 -
34 comments
Nectivorous!!! Those that eat nectar:
hummingbirds,
honeyeaters,
miners,
honeycreepers,
spinebills,
wattlebirds,
friarbirds,
lorikeets,
warblers,
some
parrots,
and of course
some bats!!!
Many plants are adapted to such
creatures!
posted by beerbajay
on Mar 21, 2006 -
18 comments
