4 3 11 feathered hunters of the night (science)

Feathered
Hunters
of the

Night

by Carol A. Greenhalgh
H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN


Feathered Hunters
of the

Night
by Carol A. Greenhalgh

ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Articulate Graphics, Susan Carlson
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Hosking/Corbis; 5 © Sea World of California/Corbis; 7 © W. Perry Conway/Corbis; 10 © Russell Burden/Index Stock; 13
© Leonard Zorn/Animals Animals – Earth Scenes - All rights reserved.; 14 © Joe McDonald/Corbis.
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Table of Contents
The Raptor Family

4

Owls Are Amazing

6

Owl Features

8

Great Horned Owl

9

Barn Owl

10

Screech Owl

11

More About Screech Owls

12


Owls are silent hunters.

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?
3


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.

4

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

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.
5


Owls Are Amazing
Owls come in many sizes, from the fiveinch-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
Interesting Owl Facts
edge of their wings
• An owl’s eyes don’t
are soft, so they fly
move. To look around,
it must turn its head.
without making

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

• Owls can see about
100 times better than
a human can at night.

6


The facial disc on this owl is easy to see.

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.
7


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

Tufts of feathers
that look like ears
(but are not)
Facial disc
Large eyes
Head can turn
almost all the
way around

Curved beak

Powerful
wings
Toes that can
move forward
or backward

8


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.

9


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 heartshaped facial disc.

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

10


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

Great Horned
Owl

18–25

Heart-shaped, Yes
but hard to

see

Eastern
Screech Owl

7–9

Round

Yes

Western
Screech Owl

8–9

Round

Yes

No

11


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

The two types of screech owls—eastern screech owls
and western screech owls—live in different parts of the
United States.

12


A mother owl is very protective of her owlets.

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.
13


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

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
features that truly make it one of the great
hunters of the night.
14


Responding
Word Builder Many
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.
TARGET VOCABULARY

dis-

un-

disbelief

unhappy

?

?

?

?

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.

15


TARGET VOCABULARY

arrangement
biological
disbelief
endeared
hastened

incident
pounced
presence

tempted
utter

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

Which vocabulary word sounds similar to
something that people usually receive on their
birthday?

16


Level: Q
DRA: 40
Science
Strategy:
Infer/Predict
Word Count: 959

4.3.11 Build Vocabulary

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