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| photo credit :: https://unsplash.com/@cliff_77 |
As a group of birds, owls have been around for a long time. Owl fossils have been found that are 70–80 million years old. Today, members of the owl family can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Owls represent wisdom and truth with piercing eyes that are all-seeing, even in the darkest of nights. Silent, secret and majestic.
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| Owl Earrings by BayMoonDesign |
The piercing eyes on these silver owl beads remind me of the all-seeing of the owl and were the inspiration for this pair of handmade owl earrings. This copper owl jewelry has hand forged sterling silver ear wires along with the hammered copper discs. Both were handmade by me. The 14mm. round, antique copper beads are from BeachCastleBeads. I added a few crystals for a little sparkle.
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| photo credit :: https://unsplash.com/@johnrichdesign |
Owls are mostly nocturnal, hunting at night when the other raptors are sleeping. Because of this, owls and other raptors can share a territory and tend to not compete with each other. When we think of owls, we think of being active at night. But even among the owls, enjoying the nightlife does not always mean the same thing. The barn owl and long-eared owl become active only after dark. In contrast, burrowing owls and pygmy owls are more likely to be diurnal — active during the day. And the great horned owl is crepuscular. This means that it is most active at dawn and dusk.
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| photo credit :: https://unsplash.com/@bedrock123 |
I find the wings of owls beautiful. Most owls have relatively large, rounded wings. The wings are broad, with a large surface area relative to the weight of the bird. This allows them to fly effortlessly, without too much flapping and loss of energy. They can glide easily and fly slowly for long periods of time. Many species use this slow flight to hunt ground-dwelling prey from the air.
Owls are known for their ability to fly nearly silently. This is because of the special shape to their wings and the structure of the feathers. Most birds make a sort of flapping, swooshing sound when they fly. But owls have special edge on the front of the wing that breaks air into small streams of wind that rolls to the end of the wing where the comb-like feathers further break the air into even smaller streams. This give them almost silent flight.
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| photo credit :: https://unsplash.com/@t_rat_max |
Be sure to stop by the We're All Ears Blog to see what the owl has inspired others to create.
