What kind of food do owls eat?

Owls are commonly known as owls, nocturnal birds of prey, with a total of more than 130 species, which are distributed on all continents except Antarctica. The heads of owls are very similar to cats because of their binocular distribution, noodle plates and ear feathers, so they are commonly known as owls. Let's take a look at what owls eat.

What kind of food do owls eat?

Owls mainly feed on farmland rodents such as Apodemus agrarius, Apodemus agrarius, hamsters and brown voles, and rodents in residential areas such as mice and Rattus norvegicus, as well as some small birds, mammals and insects, such as finches, warblers, bats, beetles, beetles, locusts, mole crickets and so on. Owls are the birds with the strongest ability to catch rats. an owl can eat more than 1000 mice a year, which is equivalent to protecting several tons of food for human beings.

The protection level of owls

Owls are second-class protected animals in the country. All the species are listed in the World Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and there are no artificial breeds. It is forbidden to sell or purchase wildlife or its products under special state protection. If it is necessary to sell, purchase or utilize first-class state protected wildlife or its products due to special circumstances such as scientific research, domestication and breeding, exhibition, etc., it must be approved by the department of wildlife administration under the State Council or its authorized unit. If it is necessary to sell, purchase or use wildlife under second-level state protection or its products, it must be approved by the department of wildlife administration of the government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government or the unit authorized by it.

The superstition and misunderstanding of owls

There are common sayings in Chinese folk, such as "when night owls enter the house, nothing comes" and "they are not afraid of night owls, but they are afraid of night owls to laugh." owls are often regarded as "ominous birds", known as soul-driving birds, bereaved birds, and so on. Ancient books also call it a monster, ghost car, ghost or wandering, as a symbol of bad luck and death. The main reason for these views is that owls have a good sense of smell and can smell people who are terminally ill and laugh. In many places, it is not a superstition that people die within a few days after hearing an owl. That's why owls are called report birds. In addition, the cry of an owl in the dark is as bleak as a ghost, which makes people feel even more terrible. in ancient times, it was called the "evil bird". In addition, owls lie dormant during the day and come out at night, flying as silent as ghosts, often seeing only a flash of shadows, which makes it easy for people who do not know much about their behavior to have all kinds of terrible associations.