Today's Featured Book:
What an Owl Knows:
The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds
by Jennifer Ackerman
Genre: Nonfiction
Published: June 13, 2023
Page Count: 351 pages
Summary:
With their forward gaze and quiet flight, owls are often a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. But what does an owl really know? And what do we really know about owls? Some two hundred sixty species of owls exist today, and they reside on every continent except Antarctica, but they are far more difficult to find and study than other birds because they are cryptic, camouflaged, and mostly active at night. Though human fascination with owls goes back centuries, scientists have only recently begun to understand the complex nature of these extraordinary birds.
In What an Owl Knows, Jennifer Ackerman joins scientists in the field and explores how researchers are using modern technology and tools to learn how owls communicate, hunt, court, mate, raise their young, and move about from season to season. Ackerman brings this research alive with her own personal field observations; the result is an awe-inspiring exploration of owls across the globe and through human history, and a spellbinding account of the world’s most enigmatic group of birds.
Owls are probably the most distinctive order of birds in the world, with their upright bodies, big round heads, and enormous front-facing eyes—hard to mistake for any other creature. Even a young child has little trouble identifying them. The same is true for a range of species, including other birds—chickadees and titmice, ravens and crows—which can spot the shape of an owl instantly and single it out as an enemy. But beyond the basics of that telltale form, what makes an owl an owl? And how did these extraordinary birds get to be the way they are?
Ackerman, Jennifer. What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds, p. 1. Kindle Edition.
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Once scientists manage to find their owls, capturing them for study can be a magician’s trick. Owls are wary, and researchers often have to be highly inventive.
Ackerman, Jennifer. What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds, p. 56. Kindle Edition.
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We are listening to this audiobook as we travel this week and next week. I've only seen an owl in the wild a couple of times in my life, and I am eager to learn more about these fascinating birds.
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