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Happening at the Crossroads
October 18, 2007
by Coggin Heeringa
With
Halloween approaching, we at Crossroads at Big Creek get a lot of
questions about owls. Through the centuries and throughout the world,
these birds of the night have been associated with evil and
death.
Truth is, owls are
probably not smart enough to be evil. Giving intelligence tests to
birds is impossible but apparently, owls are almost as dim as the night
forests in which they hunt.
Owls don't really need to be smart.
They have everything else going for them. They are muscular, they fly
silently, their huge eyes allow them to see in the dark, their beaks
and talons are strong and wickedly sharp. But sensitive ears make the
owls awesome hunters.
Most people assume the "horns" of an owl
are its ears. Not so. Great horns (and not so great horns) are tufts of
feathers and presumably make the owls more attractive to their mates.
The
actual ears lie under feathers on the sides of the head. Because the
ears are unequal in size, sound is different from different directions,
helping owls to locate prey, which they do unfailingly, even in total
darkness.
Owls do not smell their prey. As in most birds, the
sense of smell is insignificant if it exists at all. In fact, owls
frequently prey on skunks.
But intelligence? Well, researchers
have observed owls beating their wings on bushes to try to flush out
little birds. Is this a learned behavior? Problem solving? Maybe.
For
the most part, owls do not have many problems to solve. They take over
the nests of other birds so they don't need building skills. Owls are
stealthy by nature and they attack and usually catch anything they
hear, so they don't need to learn a lot of hunting techniques. In spite
of legends from American Indians to India, they are not able to
foretell human death, though I have to admit that their nocturnal calls
are spooky.
The reputation for wisdom seems to go back to Greek
mythology. The Greeks built a temple to their goddess of wisdom,
Athena. Owls liked to roost in that temple. (That's easy enough to
believe - here in America, owls roost in church steeples.) Over the
years, people started associating owls with the goddess of wisdom. When
the Romans conquered the Greeks, they adopted many of the Greek
beliefs. Owls became associated with Minerva, the Roman goddess of
wisdom. The mythology became a part of the European tradition. But that
doesn't explain why in Egypt and China and America, people believe owls
were wise.
We humans believe that we are the smartest of the
animals. And of all animals and birds, owls resemble humans the most.
They sit upright. They have faces with big eyes. Their beaks look like
noses and their feathers look like cheeks. When we encounter owls, they
seem to watch us with intent interest. And they look so much like
humans, I think we just assume that they are as smart as we are.
If
you would like to become smarter about the ways of owls, join the
naturalist at a family program called "Owls and Bats" on Sunday
afternoon. This is one of several family programs offered over the long
school weekend. On Friday, programs on beavers and planets will be
offered.
But
speaking of birds, Roy and Charlotte Lukes
will be at Crossroads on Saturday October 27 to present a
Workshop titled "Feeding, Housing and Helping Birds." This class is
offered through The Clearing. Call The Clearing at 920-854-4088
or toll free at 877-854-3225 for information and to
enroll.
On Tuesday night, another bird program will be offered at
Crossroads. Fisheries Biologist Paul Peeters of the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources will present a lecture on "Cormorants."
Are these birds evil? Find out.
Crossroads
at Big Creek is a donor supported learning preserve offering
programs in science, history and environment. Business hours are Monday
and Thursday-1:30-4:30; Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 11:00-3:00, and
Saturday and Sunday 1:00-3:00. The Learning Center will be reserved
Saturday October 27 for the Clearing Workshop. Crossroads is
located at 2041 Michigan (County Highway TT) in Sturgeon Bay. Telephone
746-5895.
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