Tawny owl: the wise creature of the forest

The owl is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, an animal that holds a special place in human imagination. It’s a symbol that inspires us to expand horizons, like bending the spine of a book, and travel to new worlds and ideas. Among the several existing species, the tawny owl (Strix aluco) is one of the most emblematic.

“Houu huu huu” we suddenly hear, undetectable and mysterious through the darkness. This characteristic call is composed of serious and repetitive vocalizations that play an important role in the tawny owl’s communication (Strix aluco), namely to defend its territory and attract partners.

It belongs to the strigid family, is a medium-sized nocturnal bird of prey, and can be spotted in Asia, Europe, and Africa. It’s a sedentary creature, that is, non-migratory, with a regular presence in several locations: cities, gardens, forests and bushland. It feeds on small rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians and has a special appetite for a beetle menu.

A sturdy bird

The Strix Aluco measures between 37 and 43 cm and has wings ranging between 81 and 96 cm, capable of performing flat and direct flights. Its facial disc is homogeneous, coated with dark and dry tone patterns, ginger or brown. The dense plumage, adapted to camouflage, coats its entire body, ranging from red to brownish gray, full of blackish spots that help it disguise itself in the woods. Sexual dimorphism is not accentuated, although females are slightly heavier: males weigh between 350 and 530 grams and females between 365 and 575 grams.

Family life ranges between calm and extremely protective. It usually nests in tree cavities, but also in buildings, and lays between two and four eggs. Like mother hens, females defend their chicks fiercely. They fly fast and often undetected, and can attack distracted and well-intentioned humans wanting to assist a chick fallen from a tree. However, it is worth mentioning that these young birds have the capacity to return to the nest on their own. Like the griffin, another Portuguese bird of prey, the owl has specific morphological and behavioural adaptations for hunting and defenceof the territory.

The tawny owl also boasts vigorous defensive behaviours. It can use its claws to launch attacks directed at the head of potential threats, hence proceed with caution when approaching nests or juveniles.

The forest watcher

Night owls’ nocturnal tendencies are not caused by insomnia. It is simply more comfortable for them to perform most of their activities during the night. They have the capacity to watch the surrounding spaces with an extraordinary, refined and extremely detailed vision. Their retina has 56,000 rods per square millimetre, enabling them to spot any prey a few meters away in low light.

Forest librarians

Contrary to the stereotype of the “library mouse”, with glasses and tired eyes, the owl has remarkable visual abilities, as we have already mentioned. Its panoramic view allows it to watch and “hunt” metaphorically any theme or matter, regardless of the time of day, night, light conditions or weather.

In Ancient Greece, the night was taken as the ideal setting for philosophical thought and introspection. That is why Athena, goddess of war and wisdom, was often represented with an owl by her side, a symbol of her intellectual dominance.

The Romans, in turn, saw this species in a more pragmatic and sombre way. They certainly knew how aggressive owls can be when it comes to defend their chicks, and this has fed warning narratives all over the empire. For the descendants of Romulus and Remus, the mere presence of an owl was a sign of bad omen, and its nocturnal chant, “houu huu”, was taken as a harbinger of death.

Did you know that…

• The tawny owl has a “stealth” nature mainly given its fast, sliding and very quiet flight, enabling it to launch onto prey undetected, and its incredible hearing, which is there thanks to its asymmetrically positioned ear holes and the arrangement of feathers on the head, allowing it to locate prey with great precision.
• The male’s chant is one of the most famous sounds of wild nature. The classic sound of the male owl is imitated by thousands of bird aficionados. Females, on the other hand, emit a more distinct high-pitched sound, often in a duet with males.
• The sound of this species was recorded by English ornithologist Magnus Robb, specialist in bird song recordings.
• In one of the ancestral Nordic dialects, this owl was known as ugla, a word emulating the sound it produced and which later would lead to the word “ugly.”