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

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Last nights Trivia bonus point question :  
What owl is considered the largest owl in the world?
Well that all depends where you look or who you ask.
Some say (TheOwlPages) it’s the Eurasian Eagle-Owl, others I’ve checked say it’s the Great Grey Owl, and then yet another the Blakiston Fish Owl.
So which is it?
Opinions differ on this question. General consensus points towards the Eurasian Eagle Owl, which is the largest in weight and average length. Some sources say it is the Great Gray Owl, as some individuals can have quite a big overall length. It should be noted that much of the bulk of the Great Gray Owl is due to it's generous plumage. From Wikipedia : In terms of length, the Great Grey Owl is believed to exceed the Eurasian Eagle-Owl and the Blakiston's Fish Owl as the world's largest owl.The Great Grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others, including most of the Bubo genus.
The Eurasian Eagle Owls are thought to be the biggest owls on the planet. Females can weigh up to nine pounds and have a wingspan topping seven feet in width. This exceeds both snowy and Great Gray Owls, two other large species, in both weight and wingspan.
Blackiston's Fish Owl - (Bubo blakistoni) which has unpublished average and maximum weights exceeding the Eurasian Eagle Owl.  The Blakiston’s fish owl is slightly bigger. Blakiston’s fish owls are 24-30 inches long and have a remarkable wingspan of 55-81 inches. In terms of appearance this owl is very similar to the Eurasian Eagle Owl
( Bubo bubo), but the Blakiston’s fish owl-(Bubo blakistoni ) is paler in color, slightly more broader, and has more ragged ear tufts.
So to those of you who answered with Eurasian Eagle Owl - Bubo bubo were right. Those of you that answered The Great Grey Owl or Lapland Owl were right too.
Lets not forget the Blakiston's Fish Owl which  would of also been the correct answer. 
You were all winners on that question!