From Owl and Raptor Center Haringsee

Do you know the largest native (German) owl species? It's the beautiful eagle owl. The eagle owl has a pair of striking, long, feathered ears, large orange-red eyes, and a characteristically thick head.

Eagle owls prefer richly structured, diverse landscapes where they can find good hunting grounds, suitable breeding sites, and daytime hides. They particularly like to fly to bodies of water to hunt, and they prefer covered areas on rock faces to breed, but can also feed their young in sand and clay pits, on the forest floor, or in tree nests.

The eagle owl's menu is very varied: from shrews to foxes, from sparrows to female hawks and grey herons, it will also eat fish, large beetles, grasshoppers, earthworms, and snails. Especially in winter, it will also feast on carrion and meat scraps. It also builds up a reserve layer of blubber in the fall, which allows it to survive very long periods of hunger.

From Chan Kai Soon

Buffy Fish-Owl

Photo taken in Perak, Malaysia

From Lynne Wallis

Talbot vic. Not sure what type of owl. He was after moths and bats i think. Lovely to watch. Not sure why I can't comment below but it was very wobbly on the aerial, I have another on the lawnmower.

From Werling Wildlife

WHAT'S UP WITH THOSE EYES!?!? It's a nictitating membrane!

The nictitating membrane, also known as the third eyelid, is a transparent or translucent membrane found in some animals, particularly birds, reptiles, and some mammals. It acts as an additional eyelid, providing protection and moisture to the eye while still allowing for some vision. In birds of prey like this eastern screech owl, the primary purpose is to shield the eye from dust and debris. It's basically their version of windshield wipers!

Humans have a vestigial structure called the plica semilunaris, which is a small, pink, crescent-shaped fold of tissue in the inner corner of the eye. This structure is a remnant of a once functional nictitating membrane, but it no longer serves the same protective or lubricating purpose as in other animals.

From In the Wild With Rick

Blue Ear Tufts?

Juvenile Great Horned Owl approximately 3.5 months old.

Looks like the tufts are blue but they're really greyish/brownish in color.

These tufts are actually not their ears but specialized feathers called "Plumicorns" and the owls use them to communicate with each other and they help with camouflage.

The owls' ears are behind their eyes, on the sides of their heads and the ears are asymmetric, which means that one ear is positioned higher on their head than the other.

From Pete Fletcher

Pels Fishing Owls. Adult and juvenile.

Seen on three consecutive mornings on private concession on northern banks of Olifants River, northern boundary of Balule Private Game Reserve, Hoedspruit.

The Pel's Fishing Owl is a rare site. While we're pretty familiar here with the Fish Owls of Asia (Buffy, Tawny, and Brown) the Fishing Owls of Africa (Pel's, Rufous, Vermiculated) have an even more fish centered diet. This goes as far as them losing or never developing some of the features most other owls are equipped with.

The hunt from overhangs above water. They watch the surface for the ripples of fish and other creatures just below the surface and will dive to grab them,staying just out of the water themselves.

Due to this, their feathers don't have the fringed edges for silent flight, as the fish don't hear them below the water. They have almost no facial disc, because they in return, do not hear the fish. They have better developed eyes instead. The legs and feet are near featherless to keep from getting wet while hunting.

While their diet is mostly fish, they have also been noted as eating frogs, mussels, and in one case, a baby crocodile! I wanted a pic or story on that, but the source is paywalled.

These owls are typically in very remote places, almost totally nocturnal, and sound pretty skittish, so encounters are very rare and seldom last long, making this a bucket list owl for many photographers.

It is the second largest owl in Africa, only smaller than the Milky Eagle Owl. It's about the same size as a Snowy, making it probably the fifth largest owl in the world.

From Fei Cheng

Burrowing Owl taking off

Early spring, Central WA

From Leighton Ferreira

#KNPUncapped Photo Competition July 2025.
#Location - Shingwedzi Rest camp #Equipment - Canon R6 and Canon 100-400mm ii

Kruger National Park in South Africa

African Scops

From Diana Rafferty Yatson

Young Barred owlet cooling off in a creek on a hot summer day!

Cuyahoga county, 6/25

From Noel Casaje

While exploring one of the private reserves in Namibia, our guide suddenly pointed to a nearby tree and said, "A Scops owl is sleeping right there." I looked in the direction he was pointing, but I saw nothing. I was standing less than ten feet away, yet the owl had completely vanished into the bark.

It wasn't until it partially opened one eye that I finally spotted it.

The bark seemed to come to life. The feathers, the shadows, and the stillness had disappeared into the tree so completely that it didn't blend in. It became the tree.

A gentle reminder that nature doesn't always hide in the shadows.

Sometimes, its most remarkable wonders are waiting in plain sight.

(Namibia- Wide Horizon Photo Tours)

African Scops Otus senegalensis

From Owl Rescue Centre

Verreaux's Eagle Owl demonstrating how powerful he really is. Genet never stood a chance.

From Google

Genets are small, cat-like carnivores with a long, slender body and a tail that is usually as long as the body. They are typically 40-60 cm (16-24 inches) long, excluding the tail, which can be an additional 40-55 cm (16-22 inches). Adults weigh between 1 and 3 kg (2 and 7 pounds).

I don't know just how big the one the owl caught is, but this is pretty sizable prey! The owl's size and weight are about the same as the specs on the genet.

Obviously not the same people, but this should give you an idea of the scale.

From Ajesh Rana

Fearless in Flight

A powerful moment in the wild - a small bird White- browed Fantail bravely mobbing a majestic Brown Fish Owl perched in its domain.

Nature's drama unfolds silently, but speaks volumes. Captured in the heart of the forest.

Ranthambore National Park

From Diana Rafferty Yatson

Fatherly advice
The day the Great Horned owlet left the nest

From MN Owl Tours

It's ok, give em a lil tongue 😛

Eastern Screech Owl

From Izzy Edwards

Barred Owl in front of a beautiful urban light show.

From Paulette Donnellon

Sitting at an airport (heading back home to San Diego. .. yay!) going through images from early June and found this precious little cotton ball with sharp edges that I missed!!

Juvenile Burrowing Owl; Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge

From Neil Bowman

Flores Scops-owl is a rare and endangered species, but what a little cracker. Taken on Flores Island in Indonesia.

From Coast Guard Mooloolaba QF6

Owl Rescue

No, it's not the name of our new boat.

Our Gold Saturday crew were out in the bay this morning on Marine Rescue 1 when they spotted an unusual bird in the water.

On further investigation it was found to be an Eastern Barn Owl in distress. Our crew got it aboard and luckily Noosa Wildlife Rescue were in Mooloolaba and they now have the owl to get it back to good health.

Well done to our crew for spotting and rescuing the owl.

I would name it Gilligan!

From Kichuz Kichuaravind

Camouflage champion, until the eyes ~~brake~~ break the illusion!

Eurasian scops owl

Kuwait, 2025

From Gary Jones

It was a bit of an Owly morning at Gauntlet Birds of Prey, Eagle & Vulture Park, Knutsford I spent a couple of hours working with Jake and the owls.

Firstly one of the juvenile Barn Owls, he's coming on so well, and it won't be long before we can again include this "Voles eye view of a Barn Owl" once again in our Specialist workshops Plus I photographed Roderick, the juvenile Long Eared Owl, the first images of him flying.

Nikon Z9 14-24mm (Barn Owl) And 100-400mm (LEO)

From MN Owl Tours

Northern Saw Whet Owlet

My baby Screech is back! Glad to see it doing better after some time off site.