Owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (/ˈstrɪdʒəfɔːrmiːz/), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl.
| Owl Temporal range: Late Paleocene to recent | |
|---|---|
| Left Strigidae: Tawny owl (Strix aluco), Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo), Little owl (Athene noctua), Northern saw-whet owl (Aegolius acadicus); Right Tytonidae: Barn owl (Tyto alba), Lesser sooty owl (Tyto multipunctata), Tasmanian masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae castanops), Sri Lanka bay owl (Phodilus assimilis). | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Telluraves |
| Order: | Strigiformes Wagler, 1830 |
| Families | |
|
Strigidae | |
| Range of the owl, all species. | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Strigidae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist | |
Owls are divided into two families: the true (or typical) owl family, Strigidae, and the barn-owl family, Tytonidae. Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except the polar ice caps and some remote islands.
A group of owls is called a "parliament".