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Forster, 1772. The great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) (also great gray owl in American English) is a true owl, and is the world's largest species of owl by length. It is distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, and it is the only species in the genus Strix found in both Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Cross sectioned great grey owl specimen showing the extent of the body plumage, Zoological Museum, Copenhagen Skeleton of a true owl (Strigidae). While typical owls (hereafter referred to simply as owls) vary greatly in size, with the smallest species, the elf owl, being a hundredth the size of the largest, the Eurasian eagle-owl and Blakiston's fish owl, owls generally share an extremely ...
The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") [ 3 ] or the hoot owl, [ 4 ] is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the ...
Owls are divided into two families: the true (or typical) owl family, Strigidae, and the barn-owl family, Tytonidae. [2] Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except the polar ice caps and some remote islands.
The barn owl is a medium-sized, pale-coloured owl with long wings and a short, squarish tail. There is considerable size variation across the subspecies, with a typical specimen measuring about 33 to 39 cm (13 to 15 in) in overall length, with a wingspan of some 80 to 95 cm (31 to 37 in).
Long-eared owls in Eurasia have vertical striping like that of the Eurasian eagle-owl, while long-eared owls in North America show a more horizontal striping like that of great horned owls. Whether these are examples of mimicry either way is unclear but it is known that both Bubo owls are serious predators of long-eared owls.
Their study concluded that these owls could adapt depending on the prey and also with the other predators in the areas where they live. Engel et al. (2015) in Chain O'Lakes State Park, Illinois, during the winter of 1987–88, compared northern saw-whet owls to long-eared owls. Engel confirmed the saw-whet owl's strong preference for small mammals.
The Eurasian scops owl is now placed in the genus Aegolius that was introduced in 1829 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup with the boreal owl as the type species. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] The genus name is Latin for a screech owl , the word came from the Ancient Greek aigÅlios meaning "a bird of ill omen".