Owl spring is not far off
Photos: Arne Ader and Sven Zacek
Translation: Liis
Ural owl
Ural owl Händkakk Strix uralensis
From the beginnings of time the doings of owls has aroused a somewhat arcane interest in humans.
These birds that hunt at night and dusk have an amazing hearing, surely better than that of most other birds, and it has been said that „owls see by their ears“ because of this, but for some owl species the light sensitivity of the great eyes is also several times better than that of humans.
In favourable weather owls begin to call already in February. What weather is suitable for going on an owl trip? A clear and windless evening and this year there is no shortage of food, there is enough rodent prey, or mice, to go round. It is sensible to present the owls based on their abundance, and there are four to six thousand Ural owls. They inhabit forests areas with open clearings, both conifer and hardwood forests.
Ural owls have a similar plumage the year round They are about sixty centimetres long. The male bird is smaller, weighing about seven hundred grams, whereas the female weighs more than a kilo. Back plumage is brown, chest grey and patterned. The eye circles or facial discs are large, uniformly grey and round; eye colour is dark, the lower part of the yellow beak grey. The tail is long and wedge-shaped.
The mating period begins already at the end of February and lasts throughout March; the best time to be in the forest is in calm weather already a few hours before sunrise or in the evening dusk. To start family life the birds have to overcome shyness due to their different sizes, where rituals with different calls can be noted. The lengthening of the day, or duration of the light period, trigger the female bird’s hormones.
Flying. Ural owl
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