Owl: The Mysterious Bird

Book excerpt: Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl. Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except polar ice caps and some remote islands. Owls are divided into two families: the true (or typical) owl family, Strigidae, and the barn-owl family, Tytonidae. Throughout human history, owls have variously symbolized dread, knowledge, wisdom, death, and religious beliefs in a spirit world. In most Western cultures, views of owls have changed drastically over time. Owls can serve simultaneously as indicators of scarce native habitats and of local cultural and religious beliefs. Understanding historical and current ways in which owls are viewed, and not imposing Western views on other cultures, is an important and necessary context for crafting owl conservation approaches palatable to local peoples. The Book Owl: The Mysterious Bird is a systematic compilation of authentic and standard literature published by renowned ornithologists, professionals, amateurs and hobbyists of the world in the field of ornithology and wildlife biology. It also covers author’s (HBS) personal observations and published research work in the wild terrains of Gujarat (India) during his research exposure of 24 years as an Ornithologist and Wildlife Biologist. The present book highlights the remarkable key-points and noteworthy information about owls in terms of introductory notes on anatomy, sexual dimorphism, adaptations for hunting, flight and feathers, vision, hearing, talons, beak, camouflage behavior, breeding and reproduction, evolution and systematics, food and hunting, pellets, eyes, plumage, feet, breeding, calls, holistic information about owls (e.g. food and hunting, pellets, eyes, plumage, feet, breeding, calls), symbolisms about owls (African cultures, ancient European and modern Western culture, Asia, Hinduism, native American cultures), motifs and mythology, markers of gods, knowledge, wisdom, and fertility, owls in lore and culture, owls in tribal folklores, owls in mythology and culture, owls in Greek and roman mythology, owls in English folklore, owls in American Indian culture, owl mythology: a global perspective, human impacts on owls, individual impacts, toxicological impacts on owls, agricultural impacts on owls, impacts of habitat alteration on owls, legal protection to owls, owls as environmental indicators, towards a tolerant conservation, rodent control, attacks on humans, and conservation issues. The author has also acknowledged all the researchers, scientists, authors, website developers, NGOS, URLs, and direct or indirect informers in the form of ‘Citations’ in the section ‘Selected Bibliography’. This book will definitely be a ready reference material and handy study guide for students, researchers, scientists, folklore specialists, and bird conservationists around the world. The author renders his immense gratitude and enormous thankfulness to all the informants, who have helped him directly or indirectly during the compilation of this work.