Birds of prey were divided into two sub-classifications: those that prowl during the day, or those that hunt at night, where only owls and barn owls are part of the classification of birds of prey. nocturnal raptors. In this article you will learn all about a nocturnal bird of prey, as well as their names, examples and much more.
What are the characteristics of nocturnal birds of prey?
Currently, all birds have some common attributes in common such as feathers, wings and they are egg-layers; however, there are some characteristics that differentiate nocturnal raptors, both from their raptor genus and from other common birds. The nocturnal birds of prey, also colloquially called "owls" have certain specialized and very peculiar adaptations that will allow us to differentiate them from others. Prey birds.
- Strong hooking legs provided with cutting claws.
- A giant hook-shaped beak and keen eyesight.
Birds of prey are so named thanks to the fact that these peculiarities allow them to act as predators that hunt for sustenance. Most raptors are, in fact, predators. Some nocturnal raptors actually hunt and consume other birds. But even so, other members of this set still only eat dead animals, called carrion.
They also boast excellent skills based on their developed senses such as binocular perspective and the most perceptible hearing to discover possible catches.
In other words, they present a unique vision to have control of their possible prey, even if they are far away.
They are also distinguished since most of them are deeply connected with their profile as predators and night owls. The oval shape and extensive head is distinctive of owls and owls. These "fat" appearances are not concerned with the situation because all their feathers are responsible for providing them with this aspect.
Their sense of sight is essentially advanced and conditioned to very low light conditions. In addition, they also have large eyes equipped with irises with an amazing facility to dilate and therefore allow the greatest amount of luminescence to enter the eye and a membrane with a large set of rods (cells capable of attracting small amounts of light).
The vision is specially developed and adapted to low light conditions. Thus, they have large eyes equipped with pupils with an extraordinary ability to dilate (and therefore let the maximum amount of light enter the eye) and a retina with a large number of rods (cells capable of capturing small amounts of light).
They are also distinguished by the turn they are capable of doing with their heads, approximately 260 degrees. In this way they replace the dissolute perspective field that conjectures the frontalization of the eyes and the fact that these are not round and cannot, therefore, turn within their orbits.
Night raptors are experts at concealment tactics. Thus, to be clueless during the day, owls have shades in their feathers that are very similar to the environment in which they usually live. Some species also have plumes of feathers or "ears" located on the top of the head that serve to break their rounded figure, making them look like a broken branch.
Habits
The habits of most of these birds of prey is that they are nocturnal or evening, however, some species are semi-diurnal.
Different myths and legends
Over the course of history and in various cultures, nocturnal birds of prey have played essential roles as actors of the fascinating or the terrifying. Very few species of other animals have had so many and so diverse statements adapted in the delusion of people. They have been hated by some cultures as well as respected by others, sometimes appreciated as intelligent and other times simple, linked to practices such as witchcraft and medicine, or concerned with time, the creation or the death of someone.
His habit of flying at night, when the human being is not in his best capacities, has been related to the unexplored and his ululars made men move thinking that a death could not be postponed or that some demon was passing nearby. In the course of the XNUMXth century, the expansion in the discernment of the zoology of these birds tamed their enigma and the owls regained their position as a symbol of wisdom. However, even today, their survival is threatened by these superstitions in many parts of the planet.
La Owl in ancient Egypt it symbolized darkness, cold and death; but also clairvoyance. The nocturnal character of these birds was declared in historical England in the following way: it had stripped the rose, an emblem of beauty, with which it was thrown by other birds into the darkness of the night as punishment. In Poland, the fact was explained in another way, assuming that nocturnal birds of prey do not come out during the day since they are so beautiful that other jealous birds would attack them.
There are also myths that explain the peculiar shapes of these birds. Thus, for the Inuit Indians, the wild owl was a beautiful young woman who was bewitched and transformed into a long-beaked owl. Being frightened, she flew through the house until she hit a wall, her beak flattened and her face took on its current shape. They are often associated with death or strange events. Thus, in the Scottish Isles it was believed that a cow would give blood instead of milk if she was frightened by a nocturnal bird of prey.
Even in Morocco there is still a dogma that the song of an owl can kill a child. In Jamaica, to avoid the condemnation that hearing the song of this bird meant, it was invoked with the expression "salt and dust for your mother." For the Apache Indians, dreaming of an owl symbolized the proximity of death.
In Argentina it is indicated that in order to avoid the misfortune that its shriek announces at night, it must be answered with a rude word. In Borneo, the legend is told that the Creator changed his wife into an owl as a punishment for telling people his intimate secrets. In Malaysia, owls were believed to consume newborns.
More positively, these birds were seen in ancient Babylon (now known as Iraq) where nocturnal raptor talismans were believed to ward off women during childbirth. Owls and owls were also sanctified among the Kalmucks (Russia) since one of them saved the life of Genghis Khan.
The scops owl was a free spirit of the forest for tribes of Germany and a protective spirit of the brave warriors of the North American Indians. One of the gods of the Navajo Indians told the scops owl after his creation that men would listen to him to know what the future would offer them. Cherooke shamans sought advice from scops owls to cure diseases and, for the Kwakiutl, these were the souls of people and should therefore not be harmed, since when a scops owl died the person whose soul was in it would also die.
Breakdown of taxonomic classification
It should be noted that birds of prey constitute two taxonomic orders of birds. The order Strigiformes is the one that is made up of owls and barn owls. Still, they are night-dwelling predators that are adapted to hunt primarily in this dark period.
However, there seems to be a usual shift in bird taxonomy based on new scientific information. The following classification is based on high-ranking scientific research and may not completely match the classification found in a specific field guide. The taxonomic classification of the nocturnal birds of prey is:
A classves
1. This scientific identification of Birds covers all birds.
2. Birds boast feathers, wings, beaks. They are also warm-blooded, air-breathing and egg-laying.
Subclass: Neornithes
This subclass encompasses all extant bird specimens.
Order: Strigiformes – Owls
1. Strigiformes have distinctive anchor-shaped beak with sharp edges; pulpy ceres (soft skin) on the platform of their beaks; hooked, stinging claws with a changeable outer crest; keen eyesight and are carnivorous (meaning they eat other animals).
2. Strigiformes have forward-conducting eye sockets that are oriented in the concavities; a physiognomic disc and considerably malleable necks.
3. Strigiformes are usually known as birds of prey. A nocturnal group is called because they carry out their hunting action at night, in the middle of the dark. Hawk-like birds are also birds of prey, but they hunt as long as there is sunlight, meaning they are a type of diurnal bird of prey.
Family (there are two families in the order Strigiformes)
- Tytonidae – Normal Owls: This family is made up of 10 species. They can be found in all distributions except the extreme northern areas. The normal owl is the most appreciable member of this family. The owls, or family of this type, have a larger skull, with small eyeballs and an elongated, straight and narrow beak.
The ears are often irregular in size and shape, the right ear usually being larger. In the claw of the longest carpus, a toothed edge in the form of a spike is valued. The eggs are long.
- Strigidae – Owls (typical): This family contains more than 100 species worldwide. They are distributed in all types of habitats around the world, except in Antarctica and some archaic islands. Great horned owls, short-eared owls, western screech owls, and northern saw-whet owls are placed in this family.
Members of this family have an oval skull with large eyes and a short, curved, wide beak. The ear is usually symmetrical in shape and size, with the left being higher than the right. The longest carpus has a smooth edge on its nail. The eggs are oval.
genus and species
134 species worldwide are in the order Strigiformes. Of which, almost 20 of these specimens are reasoned to be American owls.
All names of nocturnal birds of prey
Apart from the splendid eagle owl and the light barn owl, a great diversity of nocturnal species coexists. Below is a list of the common and scientific names of these birds:
- Royal Owl (vulture vulture)
- American eagle owl (bubo virginianus)
- Ashy Owl (bubo cinerascens)
- Cape Owl (bubo capensis)
- striped owl (shelleyi owl)
- Bengal eagle owl (bubo bengalensis)
- White Horned Owl (Lophostrix cristata)
- spotted owl (Strix occidentalis)
- Snowy owl (bubo scandiacus)
- long-eared owl (The thing is)
- Guinea Owl (bubo poensis)
- Philippine Owl (bubo philippensis)
- desert owl (bubo ascalaphus)
- Great Owl (Asio capensis)
- Magellanic owl (bubo magellanicus)
- Verreaux's owl (bubo lacteus)
- Great horned owl or ñacurutú (Bubo virginianus nacurutu)
- barn owl (Tyto alba)
- short-eared owl (Asio flammeus)
- Great Malayan Owl (bubo sumatranus)
- long-eared owl (pseudoscops clamator)
- Spectacled Owl (Pulstrix perspicillata)
- Blackish Owl (asio stygius)
- European owl (athene nocturne)
- Costa Rican owl (Glaucidium costaricanum)
- Blewitt's owlet (athene blewitti)
- pearly owl (Glaucidium perlatum)
- Burrowing Owl (athene cunicularia)
- Jungle Owlet (glaucidium radiatum)
- Andean owl (Glaucidium jardinii)
- Saguaro Owl (Micrathene whitneyi)
- shaggy owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi)
- Amazonian owl (Glaucidium hardyi)
- alpine owl (Glaucidium passerinum)
- Cinnamon Owlet (Aegolius harrisii)
- Boreal owl (Aegolius funeralus)
- Red-breasted Owlet (Glaucidium tephronotum)
- Chuncho (Glaucidium nana)
- Guatemalan Scops Owl (Megascops guatemalae)
- Pacific Scops Owl (megascops cooperi)
- Choliba Scops Owl (Megascops choliba)
- hawk owl (Surnia hoots)
- brown owl (Strix virgata)
- Himalayan owl (Strix nivicolum)
- Californian owl (Strix occidentalis)
List of Spanish nocturnal birds of prey
In Spanish lands you can safely find 8 species of nocturnal birds of prey. One of them belongs to a segment of the Tytonidae family and the remaining seven to the Strigidae.
Tytonidae
- Usual Owl: It is a bird of average size (about 15 inches tall and almost 25 inches wide). Easily identifiable by its almost complete white coloration and its characteristic heart-shaped physiognomic disk. His eyes are black.
strigidae
- European Scops Owl: It is the smallest of the entire series of these birds, which are smaller than the owl and weigh normally no more than 95 grams. It has unique tufts and its exceptionally dark feathers make it almost inconspicuous.
- Royal Owl: It is the largest of the birds of this type, Spanish, they have dimensions of 55-75 cm, a weight of about more than a kilo and a half, as well as an amplitude close to 120 cm. They emphasize his large forelocks and the orange iris of his eyes.
- European Owl: it is one of the smallest, which is quite funny due to its chubby shape. Its size is 11 inches with an extension of about 25 inches and only 120 grams of weight. They do not have the distinctive tufts, their facial disc is not very specific and they have characteristic white eyebrows.
- Owl: It has dimensions very similar to that of the usual Owl, but much more vigorous since it can reach a weight of more than half a kilo. Plump in shape, it does not have crests and it has black eyes.
- Little Owl: Species of the same size as the previous specimen, although physically it differs quite a bit. Determined by its large tufts of feathers, which can be assessed as a chick, and its distinctive orange or amber eyes.
- Short-eared Owl: it resembles in dimensions the Long-eared Owl, with which it can be involved in these lands where they live. The whitish color of its physiognomic disk, its amber eyes and its short spikes are its main typologies.
- Boreal Owl: In the dead of night, the little boreal owl comes to life in the spruce and spruce forests of northern North America and Europe. This bright-eyed, square-faced owl sits and waits on a perch for small mammals and birds before slithering down talons first to grab it. From late winter to spring, its rapid, hollow calls through the dark forest when the male asks for a mate. They spend the year in boreal forests, occasionally moving farther south in years of poor prey.
Other examples of nocturnal birds of prey
Below are examples of some of the specimens of these birds:
great horned owl
They are large owls with a plump body with two outstanding tufts of feathers located on their heads. The wings are extensive and oval. In flight, the oval head and short bill are arranged to create a blunt-headed silhouette.
short eared owl
This is a field hunter being one of the most widespread owls around the world and one of the most common in daylight. The most alluring features are black-rimmed amber eyes that peer out from a pale physiognomic disk. These birds scuttle over meadows with broad, elliptical wings, especially at dawn and dusk. They use their acute hearing to hunt small mammals and birds.
amazonian owlet
This is a small bird, which, as its name indicates, is found in Amazonian lands, including jungle edges and rain forests. Its gray head contrasts with the broad chestnut stripes with red tints on its white belly. The tuftless spherical head and mostly white underside distinguish it from owls.
philippine owl
This is a common owl that is endemic to the Philippines where they are usually found in woodlands or forest edges. It is one of sixteen species of owls found in the Philippines.
