Camden Lifestyle Magazine Issue 02 "The Outdoors"

Now, let’s talk about our tourist Owls who
periodically visit Georgia during the fall and
winter months.
Long-Eared Owls- Long-eared Owls are
fairly dark birds with buff or orange faces and
intricate black, brown, and buff patterning on
its feathers. The ear tufts are black with buff or
orange fringes, the face has two vertical white
lines between the eyes, and the eyes are yellow.
Long-eared Owls are nocturnal and generally
spend days roosting in dense parts of trees,
often near the trunk where their plumage provides
excellent camouflage. The species is quite
vocal, and makes an incredible variety of hoots,
squeals, barks, and other noises. They hunt by making low,
coursing passes over open ground, but they rarely hunt
before true dark. In winter, the species often roosts communally.
Long-eared Owls require a combination of grassland
or other open country for foraging, and dense tall shrubs or
trees for nesting and roosting. Pine stands and windbreaks
or shelterbelts are favored winter roost habitat.
Barred Owl
Short-Eared Owls- This open-country hunter is one of the
world’s most widely distributed owls, and among the most
frequently seen in daylight. Don’t look too eagerly for the
ear tufts, which are so short they’re often invisible. More
conspicuous features are its black-rimmed yellow eyes staring
out from a pale facial disk. These birds course silently
over grasslands on broad, rounded wings, especially at
dawn and dusk. They use acute hearing to hunt small mammals
and birds. Normally reluctant to leave the nest, female
Short-eared Owls that are forced to flush often defecate on
their eggs. The resulting putrid smell may repel predators
or mask the scent of the nest.
Northern Saw-Whet Owl- A tiny owl with a catlike face,
oversized head, and bright yellow eyes, the Northern Sawwhet
Owl is practically bursting with attitude. Where mice
and other small mammals are concerned this fierce, silent
owl is anything but cute. One of the most common owls in
forests across northern North America (and across the U.S.
in winter), Saw-Whets are highly nocturnal and seldom
seen. Their high-pitched too-too-too call is a common
evening sound in evergreen mountain forests from January
through May. They may have been named for giving a call
that sounds like a saw being sharpened on a whetting stone,
but there is no consensus as to which of its several calls
gave rise to the name.
Great Horned Owl