Francois Portmann A long-eared owl in Central Park in December.The long-eared owl’s plumage is a tapestry of warm and cool grays, tawny browns and chestnut highlights. Some of nature’s most lavish camouflage, it is as close to bark as a bird can produce.
Slender, especially for an owl, the long-eared (Asio otus) strikes a cryptic, leaning posture while perched. Its silhouette is further obscured by conspicuous ear tufts that extend the smooth curve of the owl’s head into one of the best imitations of a broken branch found in nature. If disturbed, the bird can stretch out its already slender proportions, and raising its ear tufts, disappear, Cheshire cat-like, leaving only a pair of searing yellow eyes looking down from a tree.
The owl’s jagged markings adorn soft feathers, which are intended, in part, to absorb flight noise. Even the flight feathers (or primaries) are edged in soft wisps, which make the bird’s hunting silent and deadly. A mouse’s worst nightmare, owls like the long-eared can hunt in utter darkness, using keen eyesight and hearing heightened by a fascinating bit of anatomy. The long-eared’s “ears†are actually feather tufts that scientists believe evolved in owls to break up their outlines. The position of the actual ears bears no relationship to the location of the feathered ones.
Instead, the owl has ear openings along the outer edge of its facial disk (the radar-dish-like frame of an owl’s face), one closer to the top of the head and one closer to the bottom. This gives the bird a sort of three-dimensional hearing â€" it can accurately measure the minute difference in time required for sound to reach one ear as opposed to the other â€" and through this means, locate the smallest rodents in the largest fields.
Long-eared owls are strictly nocturnal, preferring to roost by day under thick cover, often in evergreens like hollies, cedars and pines. Winter visitors to New York City, the birds make great neighbors, often unnoticed in densely populated places like Central Park or Pelham Bay in the Bronx.
A long-eared owl will use a roost for days, even weeks at a time if left undisturbed. Though the owl is well camouflaged, its leavings are not. Experienced bird watchers look for “whitewash,†the owl’s dried excrement, which can be obvious even in dark woodlands. Lacking teeth, owls swallow their prey whole, so bones, hair and other undigestibles are packaged neatly into one- to two-inch pellets and regurgitated. Find several of these under a winter pine tree and you have a bird to look for.
It is unfortunately easy to harass owls. Often, their preferred perch turns out to be at or near eye level, which leaves them subject to both accidental and willful disturbance. Owls will often allow observers a very close view, appearing uninterested. Research indicates this is not true. The bird’s faith in its camouflage is its main protection. A harassed bird will often suddenly abandon its perch, forcing it into the open air, where it becomes a target for blue jays’ and crows’ persecution. Observe an owl respectfully, with binoculars, from a dozen or more feet away, and it may afford you the pleasure of another visit.
