The Owl

The animal I have chosen for our first project is an owl. Not only do owls appear commonly in our society during Halloween and in children's stories as wise creatures, they have commonly been depicted throughout history. Cave paintings of owls have been found in France as far back as 20,000 years ago, and they are also in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Symbolically owls stand for wisdom, death, prosperity, or misfortune. Here are some more facts about owls:

• Owls are nocturnal predators.
• Owls' eyes are fixed in their sockets, forcing them to turn their heads to look in different directions.
• Owls have a long bill, often partly covered by their feathers.
• While most owls do hoot, some do not and owls often make many other sounds as well.
• While some owls have ear tufts they are only for display, and do not contribute to their acute sense of hearing.
• There are approximately 205 species of owls.
• Owls can fly while being practically silent, and have incredible eyesight.
• The owl is Athene's favorite animal in Greek mythology. 
• The Greeks watched over owls, and many owls lived in the Acropolis.
• If an owl flew over an army before battle it implied victory, and they believed the gods favored the owl and gave them the power to see in the dark.
• Romans viewed owls as a creature from the underworld. If an owls' hoot was heard it implied death or doom. 
• Later the English and Irish both viewed owls as unlucky, yet in the most northern parts of England and Scotland owls were viewed as lucky. This is due to the fact that Romans never conquered these parts.