August 4th marks a date that’s “owl about owls.” International Owl Awareness Day takes place in order to celebrate and raise awareness about owls. Why is it important to raise awareness about owls? Well, owls play an important role in our ecosystems, primarily by controlling rodent populations. Nebraska has a diversity of owl species that are facing threats such as habitat loss, reduced nesting sites due to agricultural expansion and urban development, and the decline in prey populations due to the use of insecticides and rodenticides. Up to ⅓ of the world’s owl species are experiencing population declines. The barn owl, one of the most widespread species in the world, is especially vulnerable due to habitat loss.
Benefits of Owls
Owls act as pest control of different animals including insects and rodents. The barn owl and great horned owl consume large amounts of rodents like mice, voles, and rats. One barn owl family is able to eat over 3,000 rodents in one breeding season. This significantly helps farmers reduce crop damage without the need for harmful pesticide usage.
Owls help support biodiversity, as they help maintain a balanced food web. Owls can act as an indicator species and their absence or presence indicates the health of an ecosystem. Owls also bring tourism, cultural value, and educational value. Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, Nebraska hosts birdwatching events that include owl sightings that attract bird enthusiasts and ecotourists across the country, contributing to a positive economic impact. Owls provide cultural and educational value. Owls appear in regional art, crafts, and folklore. In many Native American cultures, owls hold symbolic meaning – often associated with wisdom, protection, or spiritual messages. Some Nebraska tribal communities, such as the Omaha and Winnebago tribes, incorporate owls into storytelling and cultural education. The Fontenelle Forest Nature Center and Schramm Education Center offers owl talks, live owl demonstrations, and educational programs for schools and families that teach owl biology, conservation, and their role in various ecosystems.
Fun Facts About Owls
- Owls are unable to move their eyes, which allows them to maintain intense focus on their surroundings. Owls have to move their heads to look around instead of moving their eyes.
- Sclerotic rings, a unique adaptation in owls skulls, keep owls eyes fixed in place and unable to move.
- Owls have exceptionally large eyes that can account for 1-5% of their total body weight. Compare that to humans whose eyes only make up 0.0003% of their body weight!
- Owls have binocular, 3D-like vision and are adapted to see well in both dark and bright conditions.
- Owls have wing feathers with comb-like serrations that help them fly silently.
- Most wild owls in Nebraska will live from 3-15 years. However, the oldest recorded owl on record was a female great horned owl who was estimated to be over 50 years old who lived in captivity in the San Francisco zoo.
- Owls don’t make their own nests, but they take over abandoned nests. Mother owls lay between 1 and 11 eggs and stay in the nest until they hatch 24-32 days later. The chicks hack themselves out of the egg with an egg-tooth and leave the nest after 3-4 weeks.
- On average, female owls are slightly larger than males.
- Owls are found on every continent except for Antarctica, but Indonesia is known for having the highest number of owl species, home to 73 known owl species. There are over 200 owl species found worldwide.
- The United States is home to 19 owl species, and in Nebraska you can find up to 12 owl species - 9 of which are regularly found and 3 which are rare.
- The 12 Owls found in Nebraska are:
- Great Horned Owl
- Eastern Screech Owl
- Burrowing Owl
- Short-eared Owl
- Barn Owl
- Long-eared owl
- Barred Owl
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
- Snowy Owl
- Great Gray Owl
- Boreal Owl
- Northern Hawk Owl
How You Can Help Owls
- Provide nest boxes in your yard to attract owls.
- To control rodents, consider using natural deterrents or raptor-safe traps in place of poisons or sticky traps. This will likely be more effective at keeping rodent populations down as well.
- Avoid littering or even participate in litter cleanups.
- Avoid pesticides that harm owls and their prey.
- If you can, leave dead trees untouched to preserve owl nesting spaces.
- Plant native plants that provide habitat for their prey
- Support owl research and conservation
- Reduce light pollution
- Keep cats indoors
- Avoid unnecessary tree removal, especially old trees with cavities used for nesting.
Resources:
To learn about Nebraska’s 12 owl species and ways to help them, check out our new YouTube Video on Nebraska’s owls.
To see the goofy ways baby owls sleep A Baby Owl Sleeping Face Down Is Unbelievable (birdadvisors.com)
All The Owls In Nebraska And Their Calls (birdadvisors.com)
International Owl Awareness Day | American Eagle Foundation (eagles.org)
Owl Facts: Habitat, Behavior, Diet (thoughtco.com)
That Really Is a Live Owl's Eyeball, Seen Through Its Ear | Live Science
Amazing Facts About Owl Eyes | American Bird Conservancy (abcbirds.org)
