Origin
The Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) can be found in Northern America and Eurasia, which includes parts of Western Europe, North Africa, China and Japan. Migratory birds can be found in Egypt, northern India and southern China. In Northern America, in Canada and in northern Mexico they are often found, and less often in the United States of America.
In the Southwest Desert The Long-Eared Owl can be found from sea level up to an altitude of 2700 meters. It lives in Juniper, coniferous or deciduous forests, sometimes nesting in riparian forests, in parks or along farmland or in orchards.
Depending on the abundance of food, owls can form colonies. In winter they live in groups of 5-6 members or colonies of up to 60 members.
The long-eared owl, whose sounds can be heard from great distances, is an amazing bird. Being a nocturnal and predatory bird, it hunts at night, but sometimes it can also be seen early in the morning throwing itself on its prey.
The scientific name of the long-eared owl, Asio otus, comes from the Roman naturalist (Asio), and Otus comes from Latin and means "a species of owl with long feathers to the ears".
Feeding The Forest Ruff
The forest Ruff hunts mostly at night and of course among her favorite supplies are the mice that she catches in the dark. It locates its prey more by the noise it makes and then by the shape it sees.
Birds of this species eat on "unmixed", considering that at maturity they catch about six mice during the night and swallow them without breaking, therefore whole. The forest Ruff proves to be a very useful Bird for humans because it feeds more on rodents that damage people's households and their crops.
Thus it can do a great service to man, masterfully managing to control the population of small rodents that invade the areas. So where you will know that there are many colonies of mice or rats, there you will surely meet many specimens of this species.
The long-eared owl feeds on smaller mammals such as mice, rabbits, rats, snakes and occasionally small birds, and if they are very hungry, they may hunt other species.
Features Forest Ruff
The female and male are similar in physiognomy, with the difference that the female is slightly larger, reaching to weigh 300 grams while the male only reaches around 250 grams. The wingspan varies between 91 and 106 cm, and the body length varies between 33 and 40 cm.
The defining element of this bird – feather ears, differ in size from each other, given that one is half the size of the other and is located higher on the head. It is said that this positioning helps the Forest Ruff to hear three-dimensional, which is why it is also a good night Hunter.
Another defining feature is that he can even see what's going on behind his back given that he can turn his head far left and right. Another strange thing about this fly is that it changes color depending on the state, depending on the possible opponents it may have or depending on the environment that surrounds it. It's basically a winged chameleon.
Asio otus otus
Asio otus canariensis
Asio otus tuftsi
Asio otus wilsonianus
Breeding Forest Ruff
Although they are strictly nocturnal birds, they can sometimes be found during the day. Their body is covered with grey feathers with brown, and their chest is marked with dark coloured shapes.
Long-eared owls are distinguished by yellow eyes located in Orange orbits with closed endings. The middle of the face is marked with white stripes that contrast with the black lines around the eyes. The long tufts of hair in the ears – which give it its name – are placed closer to the top of the head than the Great Owl.
Long-eared owls live long, compared to many other wild birds. There is information about an owl that lived 27 years and 9 months in Germany. Life expectancy in owls is 25 and 30 years. Adults and Young may be hunted by The Great Horned Owl, striped Owl, Mountain Eagle, Red-Tailed Hawk and Accipiter gentilis.
During courtship, the male will fly zigzag, flapping his wings slowly. Sometimes the male is will shake the wings at the bottom of the body to attract the attention of the Mate. He brings the female food to show that he is capable of hunting, a very important skill especially when the young appear on the basis of which the female will choose her mate.
Between February and July, The Long-Eared Owl lays 5-7 white eggs in an abandoned nest. Occasionally it builds its own nest in trees with fewer branches. Nests have also been observed on the ground, but this happens very rarely.
The female hatches the eggs, but sometimes lets the male take care of the eggs for very little time. If the male is not around, he will leave his nest briefly to feed. The chicks will hatch after 26-28 days, and at three weeks they are ready to leave the nest. As a result, they will climb and make other nests on the adjacent branches. However, the chicks will not be able to fly for another two weeks. Therefore, the parents will continue to feed them until the Cubs are 10-11 weeks old when they leave their native territory.
Although they are also predators, young owls can fall prey to Hawks, crows or snakes. When an intruder gets too close to the nest, the parents jump to the defense of the chicks and make loud, alarming sounds. They shake their wings, try to intimidate with spooky sounds, and swing their wings wide to appear bigger and scarier.
When in stressful situations, the owl will straighten its body and the Tufts around its ears to integrate into the landscape. It emits a wide range of sounds even like felines. In general, outside the mating season, owls are usually silent.
In flight, The Long-Eared Owl opens its wings and floats gently like a moth. The underside of the wings is dark in colour which resembles the Short-Eared Owl only it has more diurnal activity and barely has Tufts around the ears. In addition, its plumage is much different from that of the Long-Eared Owl.
