Owls are our neighbors. But not everyone gets to see them. She feeds on mice and stores for the winter. Her life depends on it. Frosty and snowy winters are a difficult test for birds.

The long-eared owl is a resident of forests and fields. As various authors write, she eats up to a thousand field rodents a year, saving about half a ton of good hay for livestock.

The eagle owl or long-eared owl in the Oksky Nature Reserve begins nesting early, sometimes laying its first eggs in late March - early April. One nesting case is interesting. In early April 1961, when the snow was still thick in the forest, an eagle owl's nest with three eggs was discovered in the eastern part. At night the frosts remained down to 10 - 12 degrees. The nest was discovered in the evening, and the frightened bird probably did not sit on it all night. By morning, 2 eggs had cracked due to frost. However, after the female laid 2 more eggs in the nest, she hatched 4 chicks, the fifth was unfertilized. Cases of chicks hatching from eggs burst due to frost have been observed in some other bird species.

In the Central Black Earth Nature Reserve, owls successfully use corvid nests, since there are few natural cavities in the reserve.

The number of corvids pursued by pine martens has sharply decreased over the past 20 years. They moved into islands of forest, into bushes and single trees in the steppe and along steppe ravines. The nests of the black kite and common buzzard are used by tree sparrows.

In years when mass reproduction of mouse-like rodents occurs, owls nest in the steppe, incl. long-eared owl.

In the Black Sea Nature Reserve, nocturnal predators have chosen several tall pines for their daytime rest and stick to this place constantly. Here, owls begin nesting already in March, choosing old buildings of corvids: hooded crow, rook, magpie.

In magpie nests, they use them to widen the entrance and slightly dismantle the roof. A full clutch of owls contains 4–6, and sometimes 7–9 eggs, which are laid every other night. The eagle owl is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.

In his book, B.N. Andreev writes that eagle owls do not have nests and they lay eggs directly on the ground without any bedding. Nests are located near bodies of water on the slopes of ravines, or on river banks under canopies, in small caves and niches formed as a result of weathering or erosion of the soil by snow water. Usually settles in trees and feeds in open areas.

As V.A. Volodin writes, birds living in the south are sedentary or make small migrations. In more northern latitudes they become migratory.

According to B.I. Sidorov (2005), the long-eared owl is a migratory bird. Distribution is sporadic. Scarce species. Up to fifty individuals gather in a flock.

Appearance. The general color tone is reddish-ochre, the top is darker than the bottom. On the back and ventral side there are wide dark brown longitudinal stripes combined with narrow streaks. It has black feathered “ears” 3-5 cm long. The irises of the eyes are yellow or orange, the beak and claws are black. The black rings of feathers around the eyes are not continuous. The male and female are similar in plumage.

Distribution. Inhabitant of the southern half of Yakutia. The northern border of the range runs approximately along the 63rd parallel.

Lifestyle. Breeding migratory owl. Inhabits edge areas of mixed forests and willows. Arrives in late April and early May. Flies in the first half of September. During the migration, unlike other owls, they stay in groups.

Reproduction. Long-eared owls usually do not build nests themselves, but occupy old nests of other birds: carrion crows, buzzards, etc. The clutch is laid in mid-May and consists of 3 to 7 white eggs. The dimensions of the eggs are about 41 x 32 mm, weight - 20-28g. The female incubates for 25–28 days. However, both parents feed them for about another month. Included in the Red Book of the YASSR. Status -111 category.

Male wing length – 280 – 315 mm, weight – 233 – 257 g. Female wing length – 282 – 320 mm, weight – 284 – 330 g.

All owls have a typical appearance, and it is very difficult to confuse them with other birds. The owls themselves are similar to each other, differ in size and color, but the main characteristics are common. Some owls have “ears,” which are tufts of feathers on the sides of their heads that resemble ears.

They also have other distinctive features - long wings and tail, relatively weak beaks and legs, and slender build. The toes of long-eared owls are feathered down to the talons.

The eyes of an owl are a unique instrument. Owls are the only birds in which both eyes are located side by side, rather than on the sides of their heads. They are also motionless, jammed: the owl cannot mow them down. But the viewing angle of each eye of an owl is 160 degrees. Some owls are able to turn their heads 270 degrees. The owl's eyes are far-sighted: it sees poorly up close, but sees nothing very close.

The owl's hearing is phenomenal: fifty times sharper than that of a human. And also of the “radar” type. Owls are the only birds that have ears. These are hard, leathery folds surrounded by very elastic feathers. In general, all the feathers on the owl's head are arranged in such a way that they direct sounds into the ear openings. The ears themselves are located asymmetrically, which is also no coincidence: this helps the bird take the direction of sounds.

The owl's plumage is designed in such a way that it dampens the sounds produced by the bird itself when flying. That's why the owl flies silently, like a shadow.

Owls, when eating prey, swallow everything - feathers and bones. Large prey that cannot be swallowed is torn into pieces, but still not cleaned. Only the eagle owl is an exception: it sometimes cleans its prey. Owls do not digest bones at all.

Owls do not attach much importance to nest-building: they make nests somehow, very primitively. And owls have a different attitude towards chicks. Their chicks will be born blind and deaf, while birds of prey hear and see from the first day.

Owl eggs do not lay all at the same time, but with two-day breaks.

All owls are very useful. The food of the long-eared owl consists mainly of various mouse-like rodents; birds in the feeding regime of owls occupy a small place, and other vertebrates (frogs) and insects are only occasional.

Relatively recently, one biological property of birds has been established: the abundance of food and favorable feeding conditions cause them to increase their reproduction. For example, in Lapland, in “lemming” years, the long-eared owl has 7-9 eggs. On the contrary, in years with unfavorable feeding conditions, the intensity of reproduction decreases (the number of eggs in a clutch is lower), and mortality among young birds becomes very high.

When there is an abundance of food, birds eat more. For example, according to observations made in Western Europe, in “mouse” years one buzzard eats up to 14 mice and voles daily, and in normal average years up to 5 pieces, long-eared owls eat 12 and 4, respectively.

Feeding conditions affect the geographic distribution of birds. Like many large birds, owls mate for life. Owls lived to be 34, 53 and 68 years old.

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