Adventures With Mel & Syd: The Eyes have it

SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Eyes have it

They say that the color of the eyes of the owl gives indication of when the owl hunts :
Yellowish : during daytime (diurnal)
Dark : night time (nocturnal)
Orange : dusk/dawn (crepuscular) or daytime

Having taken the time to check the facts, there is no real correlation between hunting time & iris color.
All dark eyed owls will hunt nocturnally with a few having crepuscular and/or diurnal habits. With the exception of one (1) diurnal hunting owl with orange eyes, the rest are strictly nocturnal or nocturnal & crepuscular.
Yellow eyed owls have the most wide spread hunting habits, some being either strictly nocturnal, crepuscular or diurnal and others with various combinations of preference.
Information sited by: Owls introduction
http://www.pauldfrost.co.uk/intro_o.html