Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, 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.
The true owls or typical owls are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owls have a cosmopolitan distribution and are found on every continent except Antarctica.
The morepork, also called the mopoke or the ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and formerly Lord Howe Island. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook—many of these names are onomatopoeic, as they emulate the bird's distinctive two-pitched call. Three subspecies of the morepork are recognized, one of which is extinct and another that exists only as a hybrid population.
The frogmouths (Podargidae) are a group of nocturnal birds related to owlet-nightjars, swifts, and hummingbirds. Species in the group are distributed in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.
The eastern screech owl or eastern screech-owl, is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. This species is native to most wooded environments of its distribution, and more so than any other owl in its range, has adapted well to manmade development, although it frequently avoids detection due to its strictly nocturnal habits.
The western screech owl is a small owl native to North and Central America, closely related to the eastern screech owl. The scientific name commemorates the American naturalist Robert Kennicott.
The tawny frogmouth is a species of frogmouth native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania and found throughout. It is a big-headed, stocky bird often mistaken for an owl due to its nocturnal habits and similar colouring.
The Puerto Rican owl or múcaro común, formerly known as the Puerto Rican screech owl, is a mid-sized "typical owl" in subfamily Striginae. It is endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico though it formerly also inhabited the Virgin Islands.
The eared nightjars are a small group of nocturnal birds in the nightjar family, although the taxonomy is uncertain. There are seven species, mainly found in forest and scrub from China to Australia. Five species are placed in the genus, Eurostopodus, the other two species in Lyncornis. They are long winged birds with plumage patterned with grey and brown to camouflage them when resting on the ground. They feed on insects caught in flight. A single white egg is laid directly on the ground and incubated by both adults. The chicks can walk soon after hatching.
The cinnabar boobook, also known as the cinnabar hawk-owl, is a hawk-owl endemic to the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was described as a new species to science by American ornithologist Pamela C. Rasmussen in 1999 based on a single specimen collected by Frank Rozendaal from Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park on Minahassa Peninsula, northern Sulawesi, in 1985. Subsequently, it has also been observed in Lore Lindu National Park in central Sulawesi, greatly expanding the known habitat range.
The spotted nightjar or spotted eared-nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It inhabits much of mainland Australia and has also been found in several Indonesian islands. Its natural habitats are open forests and woodlands, scrub, spinifex and tussock grassland, savannah woodland and mangroves.
Screech owls are typical owls (Strigidae) belonging to the genus Megascops with 23 living species. For most of the 20th century, this genus was merged with the Old World scops owls in Otus, but nowadays it is again considered separately based on a range of behavioral, biogeographical, morphological, and DNA sequence data.
Forgotten Songs is a public artwork by Michael Thomas Hill located in Angel Place, Sydney. The installation was part of the 2009 Sydney Laneway Temporary art scheme, afterwards, due to the popularity of the installation, in 2011, the project was turned into a part of the 9 million dollar permanent laneway installations.
