The International Festival of Owls came about as a result of the popularity of Alice, a Great Horned Owl. Alice is a well-known and much-loved resident at the Houston Nature Center in Houston, Minnesota. The Festival of Owls started out as a fun event celebrating Alice’s “hatch-day”. The festival was a huge success and soon developed into an international event. The 6th annual International Festival of Owls is set to take place on the weekend of 29 February to 2 March 2008 and has a host of activities lined up to educate and entertain each member of the family.

Alice fell out of her nest early in life and broke her left wing which, despite the best efforts of wildlife rehabilitator Marge Gibson, didn’t heal well enough to allow for flight. Alice was raised in the Gibson’s home and is used as an education bird. As such she is comfortable around people and there is little doubt that Alice lives a privileged life. She commutes to work perched on the backseat of a car, eats her favorite food every day and enjoys the freedom of an entire house. She even likes the air conditioning set to her comfort level and lets her people know when it is not just right. Most owls, however, are not as fortunate as Alice and sometimes become victims of man’s encroachment on their habitat. The International Festival of Owls invites visitors to get to know these enigmatic creatures and the role they play in the environment.

The schedule for the weekend starts off on the Friday at 5:30 with some time for visitors to socialize before the banquet begins. After an introduction to Alice and the banquet meal, multi-award winning ornithologist Dr. C. Stuart Houston will deliver his keynote address “Adventures with 7,000 nestling Great Horned Owls: Eaters of Snowshoe Hares”. The evening finishes off with the World Owl Hall of Fame awards and an auction of owl-related items.

The rest of the weekend is packed with interesting activities and events. Children’s activities include owl face painting, being banded like an owl with a wristband, owl origami and other owl crafts. Carefully supervised owl nest box building is a popular activity and participants get to take their box home with instructions on correct placement to attract owls.

Owl pellet dissection is a surprisingly popular activity which is handled by author and radio show producer Laura Erickson. It is an interesting, educational and entertaining activity as participants attempt to identify what the owls have eaten by dissecting the pellet of indigestible matter that they throw up. Alice’s “mother” Marge Gibson will present live owl programs during which spectators get to interact with the owls. Other interesting activities include the Saturday night Owl Prowl and the Hooting Contest, as well as an owl photography session.

Owls are often misunderstood and are even sometimes looked upon as a bad omen. Visitors to the International Festival of Owls will gain a clear understanding of these fascinating birds of prey.

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The Owl is a fascinating nocturnal bird and one of the quietest flying bird species in the world. The Owl’s ability to keep completely silent while in action is based on the Owl’s unique feather design, which is unlike any other bird species.

The Owl has five different types of specially designed feathers that result in the bird’s silent flight. The first type is Contour feathers, which cover the entire body including the tail and wings. The second type is Down feathers, which are soft and velvety. These feathers trap air and create an insulation layer, which provides the Owl with warmth. The third type of feathers is called Semi-plumes and their role is to fill in any space that is left open between the contour and down feathers.

Bristles are the fourth type of feathers and these are found around the eyes and around the base of the bill. Bristles are small, stiff feathers that have barbs near the base of the feather. The last type of feathers that the Owl has is called Filoplumes, which are fine and almost hair like in appearance with barbs at the end. The other feathers cover the short Filoplumes, which act as vibration and pressure receptors. The Owl also has Filoplumes on its bill and feet, which helps the Owl to react when it touches prey or other objects.

These five feather types assist the Owl in many ways, including flight. But there is one more adaptation that the Owl has, which assists in producing silent flight. The primary wing feathers have “fimbriae” or “flutings” – edges which are serrated and look similar to a comb. Other bird species don’t have this adaptation, so when they fly air moves over the wing surface, creating turbulence and a swishing sound heard by most prey. The Owl, on the other hand, lessens the amount of turbulence experienced with its comb-like feathers. The turbulence is broken down into groups of micro-turbulence, which muffles the sound and gives the Owl its silent flight.

The ability of the Owl to fly silently is imperative to its survival and its ability to catch prey during the quiet nights. Its silent flight reduces the noise that the Owl and the prey can hear and allows the Owl to hear and locate its prey and capture it with stealth.

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The owl may tolerate the unwanted attention. Or it might finally get fed up, and flee, often dodging the smaller birds’ strikes as it goes. This behavior is called “mobbing”. Chickadees, titmice, blackbirds, and crows are frequent “mobbers”. They use mobbing against owls, and also against hawks. A single bird may mob a hawk or owl. But usually, other birds may come join the fight, as well.

Why do they do it? Mobbing serves to drive the hawk or owl away from the smaller birds’ nests. Also, many birds-of-prey use the element of surprise in their hunting techniques. By making a racket, the mobbing birds give away the hunter’s location to all other birds in the area.

Bird-watchers can use these mobbing scenes to their best advantage. It’s a great way to get a decent look at owls, in the daytime. Next time you hear that noisy mob, scan the area with binoculars. You may be rewarded by an excellent owl sighting.

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