So it has long been customary that owls are considered a symbol of wisdom and learning. And, of course, one cannot but agree that they are amazing birds. Owls are beautiful and mysterious. They cannot be confused with any other birds. These nocturnal predators with large heads, huge eyes and a protective color of plumage became the heroes of many documentaries, feature films and cartoons, fairy tales and songs.
Habitat
One of the representatives of the order of owls is a marsh owl. This bird, like others from the family we are considering, deserves due attention to its person. Its habitats are all continents except Antarctica and Australia. In the northern regions of the continents, it nests, starting from the tundra to the steppe zones and semi-deserts.
It belongs to the genus of
eared owls. Unlike other representatives of their order, these birds live near swamps, in meadows and fields, as well as in beams. Swamp owls do not build their nests on trees, but on the ground - under various bushes, bumps of moss or old driftwood.
In the winter season, these birds fly south, but if there is enough food, they can stay in their places.
The summer eared owl is a lone bird, usually resting on the ground. In cold weather, those individuals that have not flown to warm regions are grouped in flocks and winter on trees. This occurs as a result of a lack of food, or, conversely, if food is present in excess.
Description of bog owls
Order owls includes more than 220 large and medium-sized birds of prey. These include swamp owls. Visually, they are slightly smaller in size than ravens. The body length is about 35 centimeters, but the wingspan reaches 110! Females are usually larger than males.
The color of the marsh
owls is yellowish-white with a dark brown, on the abdomen and on the head there are longitudinal mottles. White plumage predominates on the head, legs and sides. There are also other color options - more red or gray shades. The eyes of these representatives of owls are lemon yellow.
Hunting and nutrition
The swamp owl feeds mainly on small rodents, such as mice and field voles, shrews and rats, rabbits and hamsters. In addition, small birds and insects, and sometimes even fish and snakes, can be included in her diet. With this lifestyle, an owl is a regulator of the number of different rodents.
Food is produced mainly at night, but also happens in the morning and evening. These predators fly perfectly, practically without landing on trees. Landing is carried out horizontally. When hunting, swamp owls soar low over open space, diving at their prey. Slowly and methodically flying around the area at a height of two meters from the ground, birds can notice prey even in tall grass. Their wonderful sense of smell helps them in this.
Mating season
The breeding time for a swamp owl begins in early spring, immediately upon arrival. After settling in their summer territories, the mating season begins in birds. But if food was abundant, and owl representatives did not fly into the warm regions, mating can occur in the winter hut.
The enticing sounds of the male are like a dull drum roll. In the process of mating, he presents the female with food, so as not to become a potential victim himself. Whirling around the chosen one, the male tries to demonstrate himself in all its glory. And all this marriage ritual lasts a considerable amount of time.
Breeding
Like all representatives of its species, the owl is also very serious in breeding. The description of this stage of bird life is as follows. Owl nests are arranged annually in the same place. Each clutch has four to seven white eggs. A female hatches them twenty-one days. It should be noted that the number of rodents affects the size of the masonry, as owls may not breed at all in lean years of food.
After the birth of the chicks, they are in the nest for another eighteen days, and then the father and mother feed them already outside the parental home. Owls are born blind and deaf, their bodies are densely covered with a white fluff. Seven days later, the eyes and ears begin to work fully, and the fluff is replaced by a more adult plumage.
A month after birth, the owls try to fly. Puberty occurs at the age of one. In the wild, the life span of this species of owls reaches thirteen years.
Owl enemies
Like all living things on the planet, it has its enemies and a swamp owl. Photos and videos captured by the researchers prove that she knows how to deal with them with dignity.
The most inveterate enemies include land predators - foxes, wolves, striped skunks. Also very insidious are the carnivorous daytime birds that exterminate the marsh owls in the daytime. These include falcons, hawks, eagles, golden eagles. Cases are also known when ravens became owl killers.
Of course, owls show aggression if they meet the enemy at their nest. Regardless of the size of the predator, they attack it, beat with wings, claws and beak. There are many cases when, as a result of owl attacks, researchers received serious injuries and even died.
Quite often, both adult birds and chicks, in order to scare off the enemy, take an awesome pose - they spread their wings and bend over. Then they seem several times larger and scare away small predators.
Human attitude to owls
Oddly enough, but man has always treated owls in a special way. The reason for this is their “non-avian” appearance, and a mysterious way of life, and a peculiar voice. All these qualities, which the swamp owl fully possesses, contributed to the appearance and spread of superstitions and fears among people.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, many representatives of these birds could be found in densely populated areas (mainly where the area is covered with shrubs), and not far from water bodies. However, today the number of bog owls in many parts of the world has decreased markedly. This was influenced by the inconsistent presence of a detachment of rodents, which form the basis of their nutrition.
The human factor, albeit indirectly, also plays a role. A considerable number of wetland owls die near airports in a collision with airplanes. And in the middle of summer and early autumn, many young individuals die under the wheels of cars because of the bad habit of not taking off for long when they see a moving vehicle (even with the headlights on).
It is precisely because of the rapid reduction in their numbers in some states that the necessary measures have been taken. For example, the lawn protects the bog owl in Belarus, Tatarstan, as well as in some other countries of America, Europe and Asia.