4 3 11 feathered hunters of the night (science)

Owls can hear very well because most kinds have a feature called a facial disc.. Facial discHead can turn almost all the way around Curved beak Powerful wings Toes that can move forwa

Feathered

Hunters

of the

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ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02328-1

ISBN-10: 0-547-02328-6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 RRD 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08

Night

Feathered Hunters

of the

by Carol A Greenhalgh

Table of Contents

Only a small sliver of moonlight casts a

glow over the dark hilltop An owl is perched

high in a tree, patiently waiting for its next

meal It doesn’t move a muscle, and it doesn’t

utter a sound Suddenly, the owl swoops down and snatches its prey from the tall grass

What makes it so easy for an owl to hunt in the dead of night?

Owls are silent hunters.

The Raptor Family

Owls are birds of prey, also called raptors Raptors are different from other birds because they hunt for food using their feet They have excellent vision and sharp, hooked beaks Some raptors, such as eagles, falcons, hawks, and

condors, hunt during the day Owls, on the other hand, are nocturnal raptors, which means they usually hunt at night

An owl is a nocturnal raptor It hunts at night.

All raptors have strong feet with sharp,

curved claws, called talons These are used to grab the prey and carry it away Then they use their sharp, hooked beaks, or bills, for cutting and tearing apart their food Toes on either

end of each foot can turn forward or backward, allowing the bird to grab tightly onto its prey

Like other raptors, an owl’s claws are very sharp and powerful

Owls Are Amazing

Owls come in many sizes, from the five-inch-tall elf owl that has endeared itself to

people for ages, to the two-foot-tall snowy

owl Their faces can be round or heart-shaped,

and their voices vary from a gentle hoo-hoo to a

surprisingly loud screech

Owls’ short, broad wings allow them to dart quickly through trees as they chase their prey The feathers on the

edge of their wings

are soft, so they fly

without making

a sound

Interesting Owl Facts

• An owl’s eyes don’t move To look around,

it must turn its head

• Its head can turn three-quarters of the way around That’s pretty far!

• Owls can see about

100 times better than

a human can at night.

Owls can hear very well because most kinds have a feature called a facial disc The round

and flat arrangement of the feathers on their

face allows them to collect and filter sound, just like a satellite dish is used to collect television signals The disc sends the sound to the owl’s ears, located on the sides of the head An owl is also able to change the shape of its facial disc so

it can locate certain sounds more easily

The facial disc on this owl is easy to see.

Facial disc

Head can turn

almost all the

way around

Curved beak

Powerful wings

Toes that can

move forward

or backward

Tufts of feathers that look like ears (but are not) Large eyes

Owl Features

Owls have many biological features that many other birds do not These include the following:

Most people know an owl when they spot

one, but many can’t tell one owl from another Let’s look at several owls to see some of their

features that can be used as clues

Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl lives in the United

States, Canada, and Mexico It gets its name

from the large tufts of feathers that look like

horns on its head called ear tufts The great

horned owl can carry prey three times heavier than itself and sometimes hunts by walking on the ground Many have even hastened into a

chicken coop when a farmer wasn’t looking

Barn Owl

The barn owl is quite common and can be found throughout the world, including almost all of the United States, Mexico, and South America Barn owls are 14 or 15 inches tall with feet that are yellowish-white to brown Some say that its tan beak

looks like a long

nose The best way

to identify a barn

owl is by its

heart-shaped facial disc

The heart-shaped facial disc is very easy to identify on this barn owl

Screech Owl

The most noticeable feature of the small

screech owl is its ear tufts They make it look like a baby great horned owl Screech owls live

in old woodpecker nests and other holes in

trees They often return to the same nest year every year

Ways to Identify Some Types of Owls

Type of Owl Size in

Inches

Shape of Facial Disc

Ear Tufts

Barn Owl 14–16 Heart-shaped No

Great Horned

Owl

but hard to see

Yes

Eastern

Screech Owl

Western

Screech Owl

More About Screech Owls

Screech owls love to snack on tiny insects However, they are more tempted to eat mice, snakes, and lizards Smaller prey is eaten shortly after it is pounced upon and often swallowed whole Larger prey is carried back to the perch

In the presence of danger, the screech owl will try to blend in to the area and freeze

Eastern Territory Western Territory

Usually, screech owls lay three to five eggs

at one time The male owl hunts and brings

food to the mother, who often refuses to leave the nest even if she is threatened with danger The screech owl can get angry if it feels its nest

is in danger and has even been known to attack humans An incident like this usually leaves

people in disbelief because no one thinks a tiny little owl would attack a big person

A mother owl is very protective of her owlets

All owls are excellent hunters With their excellent night vision, sharp hearing, and soft wing feathers that allow them to fly silently, owls are able to spot the smallest of prey and then swoop down on it with no warning

So, the next time you are lucky enough

to see an owl, remember all the interesting

Screech owls, like other owls, are incredible hunters even in the darkest night.

words have word parts, called prefixes, added

to the beginning of them In the word disbelief,

dis- is added to the beginning of belief Think

of some other words that have prefixes added

Copy and complete the chart below.

Write About It

Text to World Some owls, such as the spotted

owl and the barn owl, are disappearing Do you believe these owls should be protected so they

can survive? Write a short paragraph explaining your opinion Use one word from the Word

Builder in your writing.

un-disbelief

?

?

unhappy

?

?

TARGET VOCABULARY

TARGET STRATEGY Infer/Predict Use text clues to figure out what isn’t directly stated by the author.

arrangement

biological

disbelief

endeared

hastened

incident pounced presence tempted utter

Which vocabulary word sounds similar to

ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02328-1 ISBN-10: 0-547-02328-6

1032213

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: Q

DRA: 40

Science

Strategy:

Infer/Predict

Word Count: 959