Hampshire 72
heads, moving 191, 218
hearing 122–4, 189–92
Homo erectus 56–7
Homo habilis 56
Homo neanderthalenis 57
Homo sapiens 57
‘hoot and head-shot’ (HHS) routine 250, 251, 252
hooting see vocal repertoire
houseplants 224–5
humans
attitudes towards owls 46, 64–71, 135–6
evolution 56–7
relationships with animals 302–3
hunting 61–2, 101, 118
killing prey 190, 201, 283–7, 289–90
Mumble 261
Tawny Owl 118, 127, 133
India 67
insects 221–3
jesses 27–9
John of Guildford 66
Jones, Robert 69
juvenile owls 130, 134
see also owlets
legal protection, birds of prey 7, 135
legs 199–201
life expectancy 137
Little Owl (Athene noctua) 25–6, 62, 63
see also Wellington
living quarters
Mumble 77, 236
Wellington 29, 33–7
Long-Eared Owl 62, 63, 64
‘Lucy’ (Australopithecus afarensis) 55
lungs 181
magnetic field 194
mantling pose 102
mating 124–7
Merlin 66
migration 61, 62, 63, 194
Minerva 68
‘mobbing’ 282–3
Mongolians 66
mortality rates 131–3, 136
moulting 229–30, 247, 258–66
Mumble (Tawny Owl)
acquired 47–51
appearance 168, 186, 194–7, 199, 204, 265
in autumn 267–8
‘bat-walking’ 247–8
bathing 164–7, 263
‘branching’ behaviour 81
broody behaviour 168–9
car journeys 51, 86, 153–4
and cat 281–2, 288
and children 294–5
country living 242, 274, 279–81
death 14, 300–302
domestic arrangements 77–82, 95–6, 147, 244–5
drinking 211
droppings 77–8
escape and return 103–8
evenings 92
facial appearance 168, 186
feeding 80, 150, 208–211, 243, 252, 253
floor-walking 93
flying 84, 98–101
games 142, 158, 162, 223–5
grooming 216–21
‘hoot and head-shot’ (HHS) routine 250, 251, 252
houseplants, destruction of 224–5
hunting 261
and insects 221–3
killing 283–7, 289–90
landings 99–100, 142
legal identity 76
living quarters 36, 77, 236, 242
mantling pose 102
mood-swings, seasonal 247, 259–60, 267–9
mornings 89–92
moulting 229–30, 247, 258–66
observing her world 221
and other owls 144–8, 154–5
perches 78, 81, 226
and pigeons 195, 289–90
plumage 83, 217
preening, mutual 89, 91–2, 228–9, 260–1
and shoes, 94–5
‘shooting gallery’ 141–2
and small birds 282–3
in spring 254–7
stretching 215–16
suitors 144–8
in summer 258–66
sunbathing 167–8
territorial behaviour 155–8
table lamps, destruction of 223–4
toys 94–5
and typewriter 158–62
and visitors 13, 140–44, 156–8, 227
vocal repertoire 81–2, 85, 96–7, 148–9
weight gain 230–31
‘whistling war-dance’ (WWD) 251, 252
in winter 247–54, 269, 275–9
see also anatomy; Mumble and MW; Tawny Owl
Mumble and MW
first meeting 51
greetings 89, 226–7
relationship 11–13, 87–8, 108–9, 270, 293, 306–7
routines 11–12, 89–92, 226–9
Native Americans 66
neck 177, 179, 191
Nelson, Admiral 25
nesting 65, 127–8
nocturnal owl species 61
Old Testament, Bible 68
owlets 7–8, 48, 128–33
see also juvenile owls
pair bonds 306
Pallas Athene 66, 68
pelleting 212, 214–15
perches 33, 65, 78, 81, 226
picking up birds 227
pigeons 119, 187, 194, 195, 289–90
Pliny the Elder 68–9
plumage
feathers 101, 191, 196–9, 200, 202–3, 205
Mumble 83, 217
Tawny Owl 112–13
population 113, 114–15
power-to-weight ratio 180
predators 71, 124, 132
preen (uropygial) gland 219–20
preening 89, 91–2, 205, 228–9, 260
prey animals, supply of 131
protecting birds of prey 7, 135
Protostrix 55
Pygmy Owl 60
rodents 65, 114, 117, 123
Romans 68–9
roosting 196
Screech Owl see Barn Owl
senses, integrating all 192–4
sexing owls 48
Shakespeare 69
shawl feathers 197, 205
Short-Eared Owl 62, 63, 187, 202
shrews 117, 123
skeleton 176–80, 199–201
‘slicing’ (excreting waste) 213–14
smell, sense of 186–7
Snowy Owl 62
sound-location 190–91
sounds see vocal repertoire
species (owls) 59–62
Barn owls 60
Blakiston’s Fish Owl 60, 62
Eagle Owl 60
Elf Owl 60
Grass owls 60
Little Owl 24–5, 62, 63
Long-Eared Owl 62, 63, 64
Pygmy Owl 60
Short-Eared Owl 62, 63, 187, 202
Snowy Owl 62
see also Barn Owl; Tawny Owl
Spenser, Edmund 69
starlings 187
stretching 215–16
Strigidae 56, 60
Strigiformes 59
Strix aluco see Tawny Owl
suitors 144–8
sunbathing 167–8
superstition 65
Sussex 232–8
Sweden 134
syrinx 188
tail feathers 198
talons 200–201
Tatars 66
Tawny Owl (Strix aluco; Brown Owl) 112–13, 115–20, 123–37
breathing 181–2
in Britain 62
characteristics 46–7, 112
diet 117–18, 134
distribution 112
droppings 77
eggs 47–8, 128
evolution 56, 58
habitat 64, 116–17
heads, rotation 218
hearing 122
hunting 118, 127, 133
juvenile 130, 134
killed by humans 136
life expectancy 137
mating 124–7
mortality 131–3, 136
moulting 259
nests 127–8
owlets 48, 128–33
pair bonds 306
plumage 112–13
population 113, 115
rearing young 124–31
territories 115–16, 127, 134
vision 119–22, 184
vocal repertoire 72, 113, 125, 133
in winter 275
see also anatomy; Mumble
territories 115–16, 127, 134, 155–8
tongue 188
toque 195, 196, 217, 218
toys 88, 94–5
Tyto alba see Barn Owl
Tytonidae 60
urbanization 72
uropygial (preen) gland 219–20
Vautor, Thomas 70
vision 119–22, 182–6, 187
visitors 13, 140–44, 156–8, 227
vocal repertoire 59
Mumble 81–2, 85, 96–7, 148–9
syrinx 188
Tawny Owl 72, 113, 125, 133
walking 93
Water Farm 18–19, 23, 50
Wellington (Little Owl)
acquired 24
‘bating off’ 42–3
escape 44
feeding 30, 39, 42
jesses 27
living quarters 29, 33–7
taming 31–3
Welsh folklore 70
‘whistling war-dance’ (WWD) 251, 252
Willimot, Joane 68
wings 201–4
see also flying
winter 247–54, 269, 275–9
wisdom, owls’ reputation for 65
witch’s accomplice, owls’ reputation as 68
Xiaotingia 55
Yorkshire 67
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Martin Windrow is a military historian and author, and the long-time military editor of Osprey Publishing. He is a Member of the British Commission for Military History, an Associate of the Royal Historical Society and of the Foreign Legion Association of Great Britain. He lives in East Sussex.
Also by Martin Windrow
The Footsoldier
The Horse Soldier
The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam
Our Friends Beneath the Sands: The Foreign Legion in France’s Colonial Conquests 1870–1935
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First published in Great Britain
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Copyright © Martin Windrow 2014
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