Tawny owl

Description

The tawny owl achieves a body length of 40 to 42 centimeters and weights between 330 and 630 grams. Females tend to be heavier than males. The body structure is compact, and the head appears large in proportion to the body size. Feathered ears, as in the long-eared owl, are absent. The facial disc is dark-framed and predominantly solid beige-brown. Above the facial disc there are two whitish colour lines, which are especially noticeable in the darker colour morphs. The thick beak is strongly curved and usually sulfur yellow with a horn-coloured to light gray beak base. The ceroma appears swollen and is slightly greenish. The iris is blackish brown and the pupil is blue-black. The eyelids are bald and pale red. The talons are gray at their root, then change to a horny brown and end in a black tip.

Tawny owls occur in Central Europe in a variety of colour morphs. This ranges from a gray colour variation to a brown to a rusty brown. The basic colouration of the plumage is determined neither by age nor by sex, as it was assumed for a long time. It is rather an adaptation to different habitats. The different colour morphs may well occur in the same area and also mate with each other. Pairs with different basic colouration often have young with both colour variants.

The plumage is very loose, making the tawny owl appear larger than it actually is. The upperpart of the body is generally darker than the underside. The plumage has a bark-like camouflage colouration: The shoulders and wings have bright drop spots that act like sunspots in the semi-darkness of the forest, increasing camouflage. Similar plumage colouration with drop spots is also found in a number of other birds such as scops owls, wrynecks, pygmy owls, and nightjars, which prefer to stay near logs during the day. The feathers on the top of the body each have lateral branching longitudinal stripes. This branching is denser, especially on the back and uppertail coverts, so that the plumage appears more washed out here. The wing feathers are brown, with whitish cross bands on the outer plumes and pale brown on the inner plumes.

Although the tawny owl prefers old deciduous and mixed forests, it is also frequently found in coniferous forests and in cultivated landscapes. The tawny owl is basically very adaptable and, for example, also breeds in rabbit burrows in the low-tree dune landscape of the Netherlands. It also colonizes urban habitats. Tawny owls also breed in parks, cemeteries and avenues as well as gardens with old trees. If left undisturbed, they also breed in close proximity to humans. Therefore, there are relatively frequent broods in barns or in the chimneys of old houses.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldkauz). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“licence. Status: 17 December 2021