Owls of the World

As I thought about writing something on owls, I wasn’t sure where to start. Something local, my favorite owl, or alphabetically? I don’t want to be so structured it feels like an encyclopedia of owls. Hopefully, just a spattering of quick blogs about owls between adventures I have in the Pacific Northwest. So, here we go. Let’s talk about owls of the world. 

Our great world is home to at least 200 hundreds different species of owls basically everywhere except Antarctica.  

The smallest of owls is the Elf Owl, a mere six inches weighing less than a standard golf ball. As a resident of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, the lower Colorado River, and a majority of Texas. It is also the most flourishing raptor in its region. With bright yellow eyes on a sweet cinnamon face, it almost looks like it has silver-white eye shadowy eyebrows, and white spotting is blended into its dark cinnamon body. In parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas there are night tours specifically designed to sneak a peek at these amazing little owls. A cute pair of Elf Owls share a cactus in this YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5MbKpNi3oY.  

On the flip side, the rarest yet largest owl is the Blakiston's Fish Owl. This endangered species has been sighted in eastern Russia, China, Japan, and North Korea. Serving as a sign of forest, river, and salmon health, Blakiston’s Fish Owl is only two and a half feet tall but has an impressive wingspan of six feet. Weighing up to ten pounds, this owl is well known for catching salmon and small animals. As a shy owl, scientists spend hours on end during wintertime searching for owl talon prints in the snow on the riverbank. Blakinston’s Fish Owls are light brown with dark brown edging on its feathers and pronounced ear tufts. A quick, yet interesting video about this owl can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24AlgIBBAuw.  

Do you have an owl you'd like to have highlighted in my next owl blog? Send me an email at info@blueowlshop.com. I'd love to hear from you!