I have been feeling neglectful of some of the more exotic owl species lately. All the GHO and Barred babies have been dominating my feeds recently, so I’ve been overflowing with that content.

This morning’s other post about the owl with 11 step kids was too good to pass up, but I was a little disappointed the photo wasn’t very high quality, so I’ll share some better pics with you now!

Here are a few owls photographed by Peet van Schalkwyc in South Africa.

This fluffy fellow is a Marsh Owl. It looks a bit like his cousin, the Short Eared Owl. I liked this picture because the little tufts are not usually in their upward position. Much like the Shorty, this owl nests in a grass lined divot on the ground.

  • @Chetzemoka
    3•18 days ago

    This is incredible for comparison!! Thank you!!!

    I’m actually surprised that they look more similar than I expected. Especially the coloring on this Pharoah individual and this Eurasian individual. But that body shape is surprisingly preserved across a lot of different geographies.

    When it works, it works, I guess.

    • anon6789OP
      2•18 days ago

      I did a little cherry picking in images, but mainly just to find ones not overly edited.

      I wonder which is thought to be the oldest. Middle to east Asia is where the Eurasian Eagle Owl and the Fish Owls were the least GHO looking, while the more away from East Asia we go in either direction looks more GHO. If they branched off to be the Fish Owls that are only in Asia and the Snowies in the Arctic, that would seem to be where the most diversity came from.

      I’m no zoologist though, so don’t put much weight into this. 🙃