From Amel Nour

Camouflage of the Eastern Screech Owl

I never would have found this guy in a million years! 😒

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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      5 days ago

      I was happy to see they took the photo with the owl doing the cat-style sliver of eyeball still peeping out. Usually they have the owl perfectly centered and zoomed in close with those big bright eyes showing and it’s easy to think “that’s hidden pretty well, but I still see it.”

      In a forest full of trees, with this little owl being about 10 feet up in a single random tree on any side of it, it couldn’t get much more invisible.

      Owl camo is amazing, and they can distinguish which trees they look more invisible in. They are true little ninjas.

      • gon [he]@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 days ago

        That’s so freaking cool… I’ve never seen an owl in the wild, I don’t think. Hope I can spot one one day, but probably not with this level of stealth!

        • 0ops@piefed.zip
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          4 days ago

          They’re sneaky. My childhood home had several old big trees that housed a bunch of owls, plus some old buildings out back. Even though they were always there, I could hear them for hours every day (they have a specific song in my area) and they left pellets all over, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually seen one. We had barn owls, but I saw another kind a couple times with darker, more ruffley feathers that would definitely blend in with tree bark. Like op’s owl but without the white. The thing was just standing in the middle of our gravel driveway for a few minutes. I swear it stood 2 feet tall it looked fucking huge. Then it just flew off without making a sound. Owls are fucking cool

        • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
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          5 days ago

          I think I’ve only ever seen a Barn Owl in my yard when I was a little kid, and possibly a Barred Owl a few months ago as I was driving by a park, so only in a man-made environment. I certainly hear a bunch, so I know they’re always around, but like this guy, I sure don’t see them. I should take an owl tour.