By Mark Wilson
Published at: Storey Publishing
About the book
From Hedwig, the Snowy Owl of Harry Potter fame, to Winnie-the-Pooh’s beloved friend Owl, this wide-eyed bird of the night has found its way into young hearts and imaginations everywhere. Owling invites young readers into the world of real-life owls, to learn about their fascinating behaviors and abilities.
Wildlife photojournalist and nature educator Mark Wilson presents a one-of-a-kind look into the mysterious lives of these distinctive birds. Dramatic images of the 19 owl species of North America nesting, flying, hunting, and catching prey are accompanied by information about the birds’ silent flight, remarkable eyes and ears, haunting calls, and fascinating night life. Kids will learn how to spot owls; identify their calls, plumage, and pellets; and even carry on a hooting conversation with a nearby owl.
My Thoughts
My daughter has fallen in love with owls ever since she read the book series titled Guardians of Ga’Hoole. To be honest I have lost count how many times she has read this series in the past two years. Every time she sees something that is owl related she is delighted. More recently, we had the privilege to see a snowy owl in a field near our home as we were going to church. My daughter was all excited to have seen one in the wild.
She isn’t the only one who enjoy seeing owls. I love anything related to bird watching. Needless to say that having the opportunity to review Owling is extra special in this household because I know that my daughter will particularly like this book.
The book is packed with information concerning owls. The table of contents is very precise in what it covers.
- Chapter 1: All About Owls – This chapter will present you information about owl like the parts of an owl head, it’s body parts, the fact that owls can turn their head in circle, their eyes, night vision, hearing, their predatory skills, their flight, their feathers, their feet, their beak, and so on.
- Chapter 2: Introducing the Owls – This chapter starts with the scientific names for owls and then jump directly in presenting all the different owls we can see in the wild, More specifically, you will learn about Owls of North America, Barn Owl, Flammulated Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, Whickered Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Elf Owl, Burrowing Owl, Spotted Owl, Barred Owl, Great Gray Owl, Long-eared Owl, Short-Eared Owl, Boreal Owl, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. For each of these owls, you will learn their scientific name, their old names, how to identify them, their range and habitat, their voice, their nesting behavior, their hunting habits and their menu.
- Chapter 3: How to Find Owls – This chapter will allow you to discover when and how to find owls in the wild. You will also learn about owl pellets and how to build an owl house.
- Chapter 4: Working with Owls – This chapter will present you all the different jobs that allow someone to work close to owls whether you are a wildlife specialist or an artist.
The book also includes a glossary, a list of places to see owls in captivity. an index as well as a metric conversion chart. Just to give you an idea of what the pages look like in the book check the pages below.
As you can see this book contains numerous pictures, a ton of information as well as fascinating facts about owls. It would make a wonderful gift to someone who enjoy birds in general or is a fan of owls of all sorts. This book is also great for someone who desire to make a school project on owls.,,It is a fabulous reference when studying birds.
Owling is available for purchase at your favorite bookstore, even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.
Disclaimer: Thanks to Thomas Allen for sending me the above mentioned book for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.
