Pärlan the Swedish Boreal Owl

A Boreal Owl is pouched inside a red velvet draw-string bag. He looks about the size of a baseball and half the weight. He has black whiskery feathers around his honey-yellow beak like eyelash extensions that were glued in the wrong spot. There's ashy white plumage around his face, and white tear-drop flecks upon brown feathers radiating across his crown and sides. He stares up at the handler with yellow eyes, wide and surprised, with a look that backs the oft-said claim that "owls are cat software with bird hardware."

Photo: PETER ALTSTEDT

15th of Owltober!

Original post – 15 Dec 2011
by Föreningen Sörmlands Ornitologer (FSO)
located in Södermanland County, Sweden 🇸🇪
FSO Website

This adorkable Boreal Owl’s name is “Pärlan” after Pärluggla meaning Pearl Owl, i.e. the Swedish name of the species, for the white spots on the owl’s back.

Pearl was included in a 2011 Christmas message from the Chairperson of FSO, an Association for Ornithologists in the Sörmlands region of Sweden.

The species is less commonly called Tengmalm’s Owl, after the Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm, so Sweden gets extra points for mentions today.

The genus name Aegolius means ‘a bird of ill omen’ and the species name funereus means well, to do with funerals. It’s kind of funny that such a cute bird is associated with omens and death, but it’s fitting for owl-o-ween.

Another cool fact from the wiki summary:

Due to its nocturnal habits and preferred inaccessible taiga forest habitat, the Boreal Owl is rarely seen by humans; when met with, it is often extremely confident, showing little or no fear of people, only flying off if approached to within 3–5 metres.

Boreal Owls are also the nickname of the Finnish women’s national football team, who also fly off when approached.

xo owlsintowels

💛🦉

SpeciesCommon NameMore info
Aegolius funereusBoreal OwlWiki link

categories:

, ,

date:

random