Owls Are Nature's Friends

Wandering around, following familiar trails, I turn a corner and there lies the unexpected. A surprise! I think that is why nature is so appealing to me; you never know what is coming next. No matter how routine other aspects of my life become, hanging out in the woods always provides a fresh venue keeping my mind sharp and flexible.

Recently I have been given two surprises by owls.

About a week ago I ventured into an abandoned barn, a place I have explored many times. There are always old skeletons and tons of owl signs, but I had never seen the owl. This time, as soon as I walked into the barn, eyes upward, there, roosting, was a sleeping barn owl, Tytonidae alba.

Both of the owl's eyes were closed and its left talon was raised near its chest. Although there was absolutely no movement, I was sure this animal was aware of my presence for they have unbelievably acute hearing. I watched for several moments and there was no change or movement. I decided to camp out and watch.

Turning my back for only a few seconds, my gaze returned to the owl, which had vanished like a ghost. Without a sound and in a matter of seconds, this predator had escaped. Had I been small prey for this effective hunter, there was no question I could have been taken without warning.

The diet of owls, including the barn owl, ranges from moths to crayfish to reptiles to fish to small mammals, even cats and skunks.

A pale, silent ghost

The barn owl is easily identified by its large white heartshaped face. With a primarily white chest, this nocturne's back and wings are a patterned gray and orange. Its long hissing shriek is often mistaken for the cry of the screech owl. The barn owl is the only North American species in the Tyto family. It can reach a length of 16 inches with a wingspan of 42 inches, and it weighs approximately 1 pound.

The barn owl, true to its name, roosts in barns and abandoned buildings, and in caves or dense trees. When seen flying across streets at night, it appears as a ghost because of its light coloring.

Although in its own taxonomic family, the barn owl shares many of the behavioral adaptations of other owl species in North America. These hunters have specialized feathers that allow for silent flight. The outer or leading edge of the feathers is fringed to cut wind noise; this fringe also allows for easier feather identification.

Using both sight and hearing as primary senses for hunting, owls are said to have the most acute hearing of any animal. The barn owl's heart-shaped face forms a funnel, channeling sound to their ears, which are placed asymmetrically on the sides of their heads. Owls, like humans, have binocular vision, providing for more effective hunting. Unlike humans, they are unable to move their eyes in their sockets. To compensate for this, owls' necks have great mobility, making these birds appear able to turn their heads 360 degrees (they cannot truly do this).

Another owl commonly found in the Santa Monica Mountains is the great horned, Bubo virginianus. This owl is part of the Strigidae family that represents all other owls found in North America. These large predatory birds have dark brown, black, gray and reddish plumage. Many owls in this family have large flat faces with hornlike moveable feather tufts. The great horned owl is 25 inches long with a 4-foot wing span. This large bird is highly patterned in blacks and grays and is most easily identified by large ear tufts which stick straight up, resembling horns. Great horned owls are often found roosting in trees and on sheltered cliffs.

The outer toes rotate for a configuration of two forward facing and two backward facing toes. This adaptation allows for a strong, symmetrical grip on prey, which is often consumed in its entirety. Unlike other animals, owls do not grind or digest inedible portions of their food; their digestive systems create a compact pellet containing fur, bones and other remains. Pellets are ejected through the mouth once or twice a day. Owl pellets are a great tool in discovering where an owl is roosting and what species it feeds on. When dissecting owl pellets I have come across entire skeletons of voles, mice and small birds.

In the Santa Monica Mountains both the barn owl and the great horned owl are commonly sighted and heard at night. In Malibu Creek State Park, on the road heading to the Salvation Army Camp, tucked amongst the rocky caves on the west side of the creek is a barn owl roost.

Many times I have hunted through the piles of owl pellets, studied feathers, spotted the nest and even caught a glimpse of the owl. This is a site that has been used generation after generation, so tread lightly when visiting this owl's home. I know of another

such nest that belongs to a great horned owl. Standing in the parking lot or sitting on the patio of Froggy's restaurant on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in February, looking west to the bare sandstone cliffs you are likely to spot a mother great horned tending her nest or feeding her fledglings.

An owl on foot

My second recent surprise was delivered by a great horned owl. I was camping in the Kelso Dunes of the Mojave Desert in eastern California. I had picked up a raven's tracks and was following its foraging trail. At the top of a dune, I was greeted with another set of tracks leading in the opposite direction. They were larger, longer and stouter than the raven's. I had never seen tracks like this before.

I got out my track identification book and was astonished to find the tracks were those of a great horned owl. The trail was at least 15 feet long, and the owl was clearly walking on the ground. I had trained myself to see owls in the trees or in flight, but never just hanging out on the ground.

This surprise broadened my understanding of owls. Again, nature was pecking at the comfortable ruts of my mind.