Here’s an unlikely duo. We’ve got Africa’s largest owl, and we’ve got one of the northern hemisphere’s smallest. One is traditionally adorable, and the other has a one of a kind look. Let’s get to know them a bit better!
Milky Eagle Owl (this seems to be the leading name since birding groups have been working to change out names based on people), also known as Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, is one large and unique owl. Coming in around 26 inches / 66 cm, this gray and white owl with bright pink eyelids stalks the African savannah.
This owl is genetically unique with no known subspecies, and the closest relatives seem to be the Spot Bellied Eagle Owl and the Barred Eagle Owl and then the Ketupa fish owls. None of these seem particularly closely related though, so there are still many questions about Milky’s true origins.
The Milky has the deepest voice of any owl, and one of the deepest voices of any birds, making a very deep grunt.
They have one of the most diverse diets of any owl, which as opportunistic animals is already very diverse. Their diet rubs a range from 5 gram insects up to 22 pound /10 kg mammals. They will even go after multiple types of primates. Milky doesn’t care. If it’s food, it’s getting eaten!
The Little Owl, sometimes known as the owl of Athena, pops up throughout history, from Greek legend to bring famous companions of Picasso and Florence Nightingale.
From temperate Europe, North Africa, ask the way to Korea, a big chunk of the world gets to admit the antics of this small and adorable owl. This owl thrives near people, enjoying the clearings we make for orchards and farms, as they like to live in the woods but hunt in the open. It enjoys insects, worms, and small vertebrates.
This is a very round and petite owl, with a flat head and short tail. It is similar to its cousin the Burrowing Owl, but this owl lives in trees and rocky outcroppings. It is partially diurnal, making it an owl that can be enjoyed during the daytime.
This owl has been put on coins, pottery, paintings, and just about everything else since ancient times to the current day, and was even a trendy pet and cottage hunting companion for a time (owls aren’t good pets) and people have introduced them to territories as far as New Zealand as they moved across the globe.
Is the Little Owl big enough to get a win, or do you like your owls big and proud of their unusual looks? It’s tough to get more extreme opposites than these two, so perhaps today’s choice may be easier than some of the others we’ve had recently. Upvote your favorite now!
Little
Is here nobody standing up for the Little Owls? I am!
Little Owl is quite the charmer!
Milky Eagle
I like Little but I’m gonna vote for Milky just bc I have never seen an owl wearing pink eyeshadow before!😆
I’ve seen they’re for communication, or maybe to indicat reproductive readiness, or for passive cooling… The Milkies aren’t telling though. Regardless, they give them that special bit of flair!
A gentleowl never blinks and tells.
The milky owl, despite it’s odd (but rather blatantly obvious) naming convention sounds like a boss. 10 kg prey?!
I always have a hard time with the search here…
I shared a photo once of one that had taken out some kind of decent sized wild cat and drug it up into a tree. It looked about the same size or a little larger than the owl, but as a mammal it had to be much more massive than the owl.
One of the most impressive prey photos I ever saw. This owl is a bit unorthodox looking, but it is badass.
I’m always amazed by leopards dragging their kill up a tree. But that sounds much more impressive.
I’m voting milky. Mainly because I didn’t know such an owl existed.
I’m on a mission to get African owls more love. 🌍❤️🦉
I’ve got to go for the little owl. I sometimes see them in the parks around here and when I do it’s fantastic.
Since reading and seeing about the Burrowing owl, I would struggle to tell them apart if it wasn’t for where they were (both geographically and habitually)
It’s still hard for me. I don’t have either anywhere near me, so I haven’t spent much time to pick out the differences, I just use the geographic info if they assume people will know the species.
We only have 4 native owls, and the little owls are an extra that has moved in. They are very welcome though. I’m not sure if 5 owl species is a lot for one place or not? Reading about all these other owls makes me think probably not.
It all depends on how much food and acceptable owl real estate there is to go around. Some have a more narrow biological niche and others are more flexible in where they can live or what they like to eat.
Pennsylvania is supposed to have 8, but there’s only 3 that’s I’d consider to be common. Of the others, 2 are migratory so they aren’t here most of the year, they just come to winter here, and the others have had their requirements disrupted so much they are no longer very common.
If we are talking about which are common, we have only 2. Sadly, little owls are hard to find and in decline.
You can’t not see (or hear) Tawny owls or short ears though.
I finally got to see a Short Ear at the last center I visited. It was even more round and pudgy than I had imagined! 🥰 He lost an eye to an accident though, so he’s a permanent resident now.
I’d love to see a Tawny and hear a twit twoo in person! The look so cuddly, though I hear they are basically like our Barred Owls, which are famously not cuddlers.
Another one i’m probably going to lose, but I always go Verreaux’s Eagle Owl. (I think the . . . other name . . isn’t testing well in the focus groups. She needs a new name like Owlzymandias)
Striking eyes, genetically unique, tall, proud, and b-b-b-b-bad, I g-g-g-got Milky Eagle Owl in this matchup. Sure little is totes adorbs, and hey if we’re talking Burrowing, that’s a whole other thing, but I know the superbowl fans around here can’t resist teh cutez.
Ask your doctor if Owlzymandias™ is right for you. Side effects may include being gobbled up by a bloody great owl (if you’re a small mammal).
Yeah, it could use some better PR. Verreaux seems like a bad character. Milky just doesn’t sound big and powerful. Some call it Giant Eagle Owl, but since it isn’t the biggest owl of all, that doesn’t feel right. I don’t know what I’d call it. Owlzymandius is funny, but that seems hard to spell.
I kinda like its looks now that they’ve grown on me, but I still think it’s tough for this guy to be in a beauty contest considering a lot of these other owls out there. Milky can only win on merit, but that tends to only count for so much in a photo based popularity contest.
I just saw Oliver - he should be here to represent (or maybe he is?). Maybe a video of him dazzling the crowds would scare up a few more votes.
I don’t think any of these are him. I try not to post any owls the same day they are competing so as not to influence. I debated even posting him the day before, but I figured with Milky you already know if you’re into it or not.
I did share a morepork in the hot chocowlete post today, but that was because I had just seen that image and it was relevant to the conversation.
