Ordinary owl: description, habitat, photo

Ordinary otiphs are well known to the inhabitants of Western European countries, however, little is known about it in Russia. This is the most ancient branch of the order of the owls. Its Latin name sounds like Tyto alba, and English - Barn owl. The people called it a night owl, a ghostly and squealing owl. Its distinctive features are the peculiar voice and the shape of the head. Who is such a barn owl, and how does she lead a way of life? Let's talk in more detail in this article about one of the most common owls in the world.

Owl-barn owl: description

The name of this bird of prey, apparently, came from the peculiarity of her voice, reminiscent of a peculiar snore or sip. From other representatives of owls, it differs in the form of a facial disc in the form of a heart, with the impression that a white mask is worn on it. A small bird has a light color and a peculiar face. It is about the same size as a big-eared owl or jackdaw. In length it reaches 33-39 cm, the mass of its body is 300-355 g, and the wingspan is about 90 cm. By the way, its weight can vary within wide limits and depends individually on a particular individual. It can be a mass of both 180 g and 700 g.

In the upper part of its coloring acquired a sand (red) color with white and dark specks. Buckwheat - white in the lower part (less often yellow), except for that in the plumage there are dark inclusions. The face disk is light and has a flattened appearance, it also got a buffy rim, under the eyes there is a small section of red feathers. Wings are pale-white, with a golden-jet pattern. Iris - dark brown or black. Her eyes are expressive and large. She has a slender physique, and she also has long legs that have a thick and fluffy plumage to her fingers. She has a short tail. Beak is yellowish white. By the way, the color of the bottom part depends on the territory of the barn owl. For example, in North Africa, Western and Southern Europe, the Middle East, it is white, but in the rest of Europe - yellow-orange.

On the basis of gender, they are practically not different from each other. The females are slightly darker, but this is not particularly noticeable. Young chicks also do not differ from adults, sometimes they are more variegated.

As we have noticed, a very memorable appearance is possessed by such a bird as a barn owl, the photo clearly demonstrates this to us.

Habitat

Ordinary sipucha is 35 subspecies, which are distributed throughout the continents, except for Antarctica alone, and they also occur on the islands. It used to be found in the Baltic States and other CIS countries: now it lives in small numbers. On the territory of Russia is found only in the Kaliningrad region. In the European part, it is absent in the northern regions and mountain systems.

On the one hand, ordinary barn owl is adapted to different geographic conditions, since it is widespread almost everywhere, and on the other, it does not have the ability to store fat reserves in it, therefore it does not tolerate a harsh climate. In the northern regions of the United States and most of Canada, in Northern Europe and practically throughout Russia, for this reason, it does not exist. A bird can not live in African and Asian deserts.

There were cases when a barn owl was man-made artificially in areas where it had never existed. Thus she appeared on the Seychelles and Hawaiian Islands, in New Zealand. After the barn owl was settled in the Seychelles, the kestrel population began to decline, which it fed.

Favorite places to stay

Sipuha almost always settles near human dwellings. Nests in large cities and in rural areas. He likes to be settled in attics, hollows and niches of walls. He prefers roofs of houses and abandoned buildings. Often, barn owls are found on open plains where a small number of trees are present. It can be such places as woodlands, swamps, dense meadows, the bird also inhabits along wastelands, ponds, ravines and highways.

It can often be found where agricultural farms and human habitation are located. Owl-otiphas tries to avoid dense forests and high-altitude places. For this bird, the following conditions are necessary for distribution: availability of feed, absence of cold winters and weak competition with other predators. Basically, they do not change their habitat, exceptions are situations where the food base in the range of their habitat is depleted.

What does he eat?

Her favorite food is mouse-shaped rodents, and she can also cope with a herd (big gray rat). She can catch up to 15 mice per night. Rarely uses small birds for food, in particular sparrows, as well as large and amphibian insects. As a food, rats, voles, hamsters, shrews, opossums can be used. They can also catch bats, frogs, reptiles and invertebrates. The victim of an owl suffices directly on the fly, clamps her with his tenacious claws and carries him to a place where he can calmly regale her.

The peculiarities of the location of the hearing aid allow the bird to catch all the sounds that the victim makes, which helps her a lot during hunting. Her ears have an asymmetrical disposition: one of them is at the level of the nostrils, and the other - in the forehead.

The characteristic voice of the barn owl

She makes a hoarse whisper of rattling. The barn owls flap their wings and click their beaks. By the way, this feature of theirs can unwittingly bring terror to people who decided to rest in the forest silence and met with it. There are many sounds issued by this owl, but still the most prevalent of these is the hoarse, shrill trill that can be heard even during its flight. The cry of a female owl is lower in tone.

By the way, the bird received its Russian name for a low, rattling, hoarse scream, which sounds like "heee". They publish it more often than the usual owl hoot. Her peculiar hoarse voice resembles a hoarse cough.

Nightlife

She flies out to hunt in the late twilight and conducts a strictly nocturnal lifestyle. As a rule, they live alone, but they can meet in small groups in places where the game is crowded. Since the barnes are active at night, they fall asleep in the afternoon. For sleep, they choose a niche, natural or artificial - it can be a hole in the ground or an unused loft.

During the hunt, they change altitude - they go up, then again go down, flying around the property. They can also wait for the victim, hiding in ambush. Their wings are arranged in such a way that their flight turns out to be as silent and soft as possible, besides they have excellent vision and hearing. By the way, in some regions, otiphs are hunted during the day, for example, in Britain, but at this time of day there is a danger for them in the form of birds of prey, such as gulls.

His victim siphu kills claws, then attacks her with a long leg and tears his beak. Has a very mobile neck, due to what can eat prey, almost without bending. During the meal, the feathers of the facial disc move, and it seems that the owls grimace.

Reproduction

Ordinary owl is usually monogamous, but cases of polygamy are also not excluded. In a year there is one, less often two clutches. The beginning of the breeding season depends, as a rule, on the climatic conditions of habitats and the amount of food. In warmer regions and where much food they can multiply at any time of the year. For example, in the temperate zone of Europe or North America, this starts in March-June. If there is a re-laying, the breeding of chicks will be for the period March-May and June-August.

The male himself chooses the place where the nest will be, and then begins to call the female. As such, the nest is not built, for this purpose a closed and dark place is chosen. It can be a groove in an old stump, a tree hollow and other niches. The female is engaged in incubating eggs, and at this time the male brings her food. The conditional nest is located at an altitude of 2-20 meters above the ground, the size of the masonry is usually 4-7 eggs, but can be from 2 to 14. They are more, as a rule, in periods characterized by abundance of feed. The size of eggs, which have a white or cream color, averages 30-35 mm.

During the breeding season, birds make different sounds. They shriek and scream in a hoarse voice, moan and snort, issuing a characteristic "heee" sound. In the rest of the time, as a rule, owls are silent. About a month the female incubates eggs. The young fly out of the nest on the 50-55 day of life.

By the way, a couple of owls stay together until the death of one of the partners. Female and male live close to each other, but one by one.

Behavior during danger

In a calm state, the sitting owl-barn owl keeps the body straight, and in case the bird is concerned, it takes a menacing pose - spreads its legs, spreads its wings horizontally and leans to the ground. When she meets the violator of her territorial possessions, she actively waves her wings, stepping ever closer to the enemy. Loud hisses and clicks his beak. If this does not help, then it attacks the opponent, falling on his back and striking with clawed paws.

Chicks of the Owl

Hatching chicks are completely dependent on their parents, who alternately feed them. At birth, they are covered with thick white down. In the event that it is very cold, the barn owl does not leave the nest at all and warms the chicks, which become completely independent in about three months. The grown-up chicks fly away to new places and find themselves another territory for dwelling and reproduction. In a sipoo, even 10 chicks may appear at a time, if conditions allow, but in a hungry year, as a rule, no more than 4 eggs are expected.

It is noted that the behavior of their chicks is not typical for birds: they display altruism, refusing to eat in favor of those who are more hungry than they. In comparison with most other birds, in which young people literally tear each other's food to eat themselves, this fact causes great interest in such a bird as a barn owl. A photo of her chicks shows how they look when they are born.

Parents take care even after their chicks fly out of the nest: they continue to take care of them and feed them until they become completely independent, that is, they will not reach the age of three months.

Attitudes of people

Owl-barn owl in humans has always been a symbol of wisdom, but they have treated this bird with superstitious fear. Now superstitions go to the past, and people are more and more interested in it. Sipuhi caused fear of people due to some of its features: a white face that resembles a mask, frightening sounds, and also because of the habit of this bird to fly noiselessly and to appear abruptly in the face of a man, for which people called her a ghostly owl.

Ordinary owl is mainly fed by rodents, thereby benefiting man. People have long valued the help of these owls in destroying pests. So, in the 17th century, this practice spread when houses, barns, mills and other buildings made special windows, through which sipuchas could penetrate inside and destroy rodents. Thus, the birds remained full, and it was useful for the person.

If they notice a number of people, then they begin to conduct themselves very interestingly: they rise high, sway on their feet in different directions and at the same time depict various grimaces. If you approach it very closely, it usually flies away.

How many barn owls live?

Under natural conditions, owl-owls can live up to 18 years, but this is the maximum figure. In fact, it turns out that they live mostly very little - the average life expectancy they have about 2 years. There were recorded cases when a barn owl could live up to 17 years in natural conditions, in North America, a bird in captivity died at the age of 11.5 years, but in England the record was broken - the bird lived in captivity for 22 years.

We talked about such an interesting bird as owl-owl, about what her habits are and how useful it is for a person. Unfortunately, due to changes in the environment and the use of pesticides in different parts of Europe, the number of otipus is decreasing. Also, cases of death of birds from collision with cars on the roads are not uncommon. Currently, the barn owl is a bird that is listed in the Red Books of a number of countries in Eastern Europe, where, for unknown reasons, there has been a rapid decline in its numbers in recent decades.