Affordable genetic testing is really opening up a lot of new info about owls, so even though we've been fascinated with them since our earliest days, we are still currently learning so many new things about them thanks to modern tech that makes studying them so much easier. Owl classifications can get messy, but it's proof we're still learning so much!

It was a little larger than I had expected as well, but it was still almost weightless. Owls are 40-60 percent feathers by volume, and even the part that is bird is as hollow as possible.

I don't know exactly how it got where I was. It was an event for an animal rescue group, and I went to see their new Snowy Owl, but a lot of the birds there were actually bred in captivity to serve as educational animals, and this is likely one of those, otherwise I likely wouldn't have been able to handle it, as if it were a rescue, we generally try to give them the last amount of time around humans as possible so they don't start to get tamed.

Owls can have pretty large vocabularies! Some studies show they can have up to 2 or 3 dozen unique vocalizations and that they can determine the "voices" of different owls, at least to the point they can tell if it is an acquaintance or a stranger they should investigate.

Our resident Great Horned Owl at the clinic is very grumpy and he makes all kinds of noises to show his dissatisfaction well beyond his trademark hoot. 😄