TRANSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

I'm Marty Stouffer. This is a special time of day in a special place. I'm here on the East coast. This is where the rising sun first brightens America's wildlife habitat. As morning moves across our continent, it will warm the wide range of the family of owls. There are 18 different species here in North America and they range in size from the tiny elf owl no bigger than a bluebird to the rare, great gray owl with a wingspread of five feet. The sun makes its way over the southern swamps of the barred owl, the central woodlands of the great horned owl, the western prairies of the burrowing owl, and finally sets beyond the northern tundra home of the snowy owl. The gathering dusk casts its magical spell, and life begins to stir in the deepening twilight. Gliding on hushed wings, and striking with lightning speed are the supreme hunters of the night, the "OWLS LORDS OF DARKNESS".

GREAT HORNED OWL/SCREECH OWL

In the world of wild wings, there comes the hour of the owl.

Once, this time belonged entirely to the wild animals.

And, the owl symbolized everything that was dark, frightening, and lonely about the night...

Only a brave few men ventured out into the unknown. But we conquered the darkness. Today, we watch, listen, and ask questions.

What is this bird, the owl? Is it an evil creature of ill omen? Or is it a vital element in Nature's delicate balance?

This, the Great Horned, is the largest owl with ear tufts... The smallest eared owl is this: the Screech...

To the Great Horned's nine or ten pounds, the Screech weighs in at
a mere six ounces...

The Great Horned might be considering the screech as its next meal. Although it's more likely that it's planning to reassert its claim as lord of this hunting territory. The Screech is fierce in temperament, but it's no match for the Great Horned. Even though it may attack other owls, the Great Horned's main prey consists of small mammals...

Because an owl's wings are huge and its body relatively small, flapping is reduced to a minimum. Thus, the approach is silent, the prey unaware...

Unlike other birds, owls do not fly for fun and they seldom kill for sport. Recovered, the Screech watches from a safe distance.

Known to kill over a hundred rodents per week, the Great Horned is a living mousetrap.

ELF OWL/SAW WHET

Smaller even than the Screech Owl, in fact, the tiniest in the world, is the Elf Owl. It lives in the Saguaro deserts...

Another small owl is the Saw Whet, named for its call which sounds like someone sharpening a saw on a Whetstone. The Saw Whet is the only small owl without ear tufts seen in the central and western states.


SCREECH OWLS

Knowing no limits of range, the Screech owl is our most common owl, yet it's rarely seen. It hides during the day.

Like other owls, it does not construct its own nest, but rather uses what is available. This is a manmade nest box.

As parents, owls are among the most devoted in the bird kingdom. Both mother and father Screech owl feed the young, visiting the nest as many as forty times a night and bringing in mice, birds, and here a large beetle.

Usually, the Screech nests in a hollow tree, or an abandoned woodpecker
hole.

All owls are marked for nighttime. Streaked and mottled to blend with their surroundings, they can literally disappear into the woodwork.

Many people have heard an owl hooting, but few have ever seen this common behavior...

And, who has ever seen an owl taking a bath?

BARRED OWL

It's no stranger to life on the ground, and sometimes it even nests there. This bird of the wooded swamps is the Barred Owl.

Every moon is a hunter's moon. And, daytime may bring danger. Here, a Great Horned is being mobbed by a flock of crows.

But, nighttime has its hazards, too. As an owl swoops to attack an animal running across an open highway, it may be hit by a car...



DEAD OWL

Hidden in the sides of their skulls are extremely keen ears...

Their talons form a square to grasp and kill their prey, and their feathers have soft edges that quiet the flap of their wing beats, so that they can fly with almost utter soundlessness...

Sharing the same hunting territory, the Great Horned, and the Red-tailed hawk feed on the same prey species. They occupy different niches because the hawk hunts by day, and the owl mainly by night...

HAWK DEFENDING TERRITORY FROM OWL

But when the hawk has a family to feed and the sun is shining, it will not tolerate the presence of the owl in their shared territory.

By night, the owl would have the advantage. Now, the hawk, a much faster flier climbs high into the air, then drops to deliver the message.

Speed is one of the hawk's primary weapons.

It may reach a hundred miles an hour in a dive. Powerfully, repeatedly, the point is driven home. The owl is surely ready to leave by now. But if it tries to fly, it's slower than the hawk and will surely be hit in midair. Finally a chance to escape. The hawk is the clear winner, and the owl will probably not hunt here in daylight again.

This sort of territorial confrontation regularly occurs in nature. Different species and even members of the same species constantly compete.

Owls and hawks were once thought to be related, but now we know that they are not. Instead, they are examples of convergent evolution. For a life of hunting and killing, both have developed hooked beaks and sharp talons.

MARSH HAWK

The Marsh Hawk, resembles an owl in one more way its eyes, which face forward for its hovering style of hunting.

A hovering owl is this species, the Hawk Owl. It lives in the north woods. The young look very much like other owlets.

But, the adult Hawk Owl, with its long tail and slim head, is quite different from other owls.

TRANSITION TO DESERT

Our southwestern deserts, home for a variety of birds like the Roadrunner, Cactus Wren, and Gamble's Quail.

This is also owl country. These are Burrowing Owls like the Hawk Owl, they're diurnal active in the daytime.

A hungry weasel!

Mother sounds the warning. A ground dweller, no matter how young, must always be on the alert. Mother tries to gather her young into the underground burrow...

Perhaps she can lead the predator away.

The weasel makes his move.

WEASEL INSIDE BURROW

The burrow! is usually a safe hiding place, but not when a weasel is close behind. His streamlined speed could be deadly.

The weasel tries to sniff out his meal. Fortunately, the young owl knows every nook and cranny in its underground home.

Mother returns, just in time.

She becomes larger than life in an imposing threat display.

Owls hunt by using their huge eyes and their ears. They vary in body size, and they eat a variety of prey from worms to animals the size of a rabbit, and larger.

Lemmings provide the main food for the elegant, all white Snowy Owl of the northern tundra.

When the Lemming population falls, these owls migrate south. Their appearance, every four or five years south of the Canadian border, brings out birders from miles around.

Heaviest of the owls, the powerful snowy lives and raises her young by day, unafraid of humans but sometimes harassed by other birds of the tundra, like these Jaegers.

Largest not in weight, but in overall size is the Great Gray Owl of the north woods. With a stern face and piercing gaze, this owl has nothing to fear. It swallows prey headfirst as all owls do. Then, it hunts again.

Not as light and buoyant as most owls in flight, the Great Gray seldom flies higher than twenty feet. In the spring, the male brings prey to the female, and she feeds it to their nestlings. When they're older, the male will feed them himself.

She tears the mouse into bite size pieces, then offers the small morsels to her youngsters. Young birds of prey may have trouble even with these.

Because the egg laying interval ranges from two days to nearly a week, hatching is also staggered. The result is a variation in age and size of the owlets.

When they're ready to graduate to solid food, even the youngest owl tries to get the hang of the head-first swallow. Soon their fluffy down is replaced by feathers, at this stage, they're referred to as fledglings. They've left the nest, but still depend on their parents to bring them food. It will be autumn before they fly like an adult, with beauty and grace.

LONG EARED OWL

This is the Long Eared Owl. It's often confused with the Great Horned, but its breast is streaked up and down, not side to side like the Great Horned.

The Short Eared Owl also has vertical streaks, but it has them on its back also for camouflage in the tall grass. The Long Eared prefers thick cover and low branches, while the Short Eared roosts and nests on the ground, in marshes and meadows. It's one of the owls most often sighted.

TRANSITION TO TOWN

Among the most widely distributed birds in the world. And certainly one of the most unusual, is the Barn Owl, at home in our barns and church steeples.

BARN OWL

It's not hard to see why it's also called the Monkey faced Owl. In a category all its own, with its heart-shaped face, this is the species that proved owls can locate their prey in total darkness using only their ears.

The young at this stage look like little vultures.

Like the Great Gray, the female Barn Owl also has a mixed brood. This little downy hatchling is just a day old. A week later, a second cover of down appears.

The Barn Owl lives so peacefully within our civilization, that some buildings have been occupied by them for centuries.

Owls, of all the birds, are the only ones to succeed as nocturnal predators. They can kill animals as large as a skunk, but usually help man by controlling rodents.

Ever since we shivered around our campfire and heard their spooky hooting echoing through the dark and lonely night, ever since we looked up and saw their eyes glowing back into ours, we made up myths about owls to reflect our fears. But they did not reflect the facts. At last, we are beginning to learn more about these intriguing birds.

CONCLUSION

To many of us, owls are nothing less than wise little men in feathery coats. Even though this view is inaccurate, they are wise creatures in their own way, in that they have been able to coexist with humans at the same time that many other birds and animals have become endangered. But, we may never be able to obtain an accurate count of the widespread owl populations in our country because they are so shy and secretive.

This much we do know: They are formidable, fascinating and essential. As hunters of the night, they reign over forest, field, and prairie, the "OWLS LORDS OF DARKNESS".

I'm Marty Stouffer. Until next time, enjoy our WILD AMERICA.