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Tawny Owl i by *makibird

Categories deviantART Shop > Photography > Animals, Plants & Nature > Birds
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Tawny Owl

It is a medium-sized earless owl, 37–43 cm in length with an 81–96 cm wingspan. The Tawny Owl is stocky with a large rounded head and rounded wings. It occurs in two colour phases, rufous brown and greyish brown, with all intermediate forms. The pale underparts are streaked with brown and the facial disc is rather plain. The eyes are dark brown. The Tawny Owl has a strong direct flight.

The retina of the bird has about 56,000 light-sensitive rods per square millimetre, enabling it to pick out prey several metres away by the light of one candle over 500 metres away. In low-level light conditions, this is about 100 times better than the eyes of humans.

Calls vary a great deal between individual birds, but the stereotypical and most frequently- heard territorial calls are the quavering hoo ... pause ... hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo (which is usually made by the male) and the kew-wick which is a unisex call. Famously, the call tu-whit tu-whoo was immortalised by William Shakespeare in Act 5, Scene 2 of Love's Labour's Lost. However, it is only urban legend that both sexes make this call.

The call is given only by two communicating owls of different gender. The female owl will make the "tu-whit" call, and the male owl will respond with the "tu-whoo".

Wikipedia



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