Where Wildlife, Humans, & Ecology Meet
Ecology Blueprints explores the interconnected systems that link wildlife, humans, and their habitats—through science, observation, and hands-on learning.
Because no organism exists alone. When you understand food webs, habitat, and pressure, the species make sense. Ecology isn’t about memorizing animals—it’s about understanding relationships and outcomes.
As temperatures rise or lower with the changing seasons, we as humans tend to adjust to the weather with our clothing – wearing heavy jackets when it snows or shorts when it’s hot out.
Birds are lightweight and have wings that help them do it, but there is a lot more going on physically that makes flying possible for them.
Owls eat a variety of prey. So when you dissect a pellet, you never know what you’ll discover! Let’s check out some information about some common prey owls eat.
Have you heard of the Bare-legged Owl? This owl has dark eyes and a whitish-brown face with distinct white eyebrows. Their fronts are lighter with dark spots while their backs are a darker brown with white spots.
Band-bellied Owls are similar in appearance to Spectacled Owls (which you can read about here!) and are closely related to them but stand out by the distinctive stripes on their bellies.
Tropical Screech Owls can be found in Central and South America. They stand 8-9 inches tall, with a 6-7 inch wingspan, and weigh 3.
Endemic to Hispaniola, an island in the Caribbean, this owl can’t be found anywhere else in the world. It looks very similar to a Barn Owl but is darker in coloring.
Athene Noctua, are found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. They like habitats that are open, like farms, orchards, and quarries.
They stand at 19-24 inches tall, with a wingspan of 10. 5-15 inches long, and weigh 17-45 ounces.
Within the UK, they’re found in England, Wales, and Scotland, but they aren’t found in Ireland, because they don’t travel across the water.
They are part of the Strigidae family and in the genus Bubo. While their bodies are mottled brown and their faces have gray and white feathers, their eyes are a striking orange color.
They stand 11 to almost 15 inches tall, with a wingspan of over 8 to almost 11 inches. They weigh between 6 and 12 ounces.
