Red owl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Red owl |
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| Tyto soumagnei in Sofia, Madagascar | |
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Tyto
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soumagnei
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The red owl (Tyto soumagnei) is a special type of owl that belongs to the barn owl family, called Tytonidae. People also call it the Madagascar red owl or Soumagne's owl. This owl is quite rare and lives only on the island of Madagascar. It was first found in 1876 but then seemed to disappear for a long time. Researchers from the World Wide Fund for Nature rediscovered it in 1993!
Today, the red owl is considered a vulnerable animal. This means it is at risk of disappearing because its home, or habitat, is being lost. However, recent studies suggest it might live in more places than we first thought. It's possible that this owl has been hard to find because it looks a lot like its close relative, the common barn owl.
The red owl looks similar to the barn owl but is smaller. It grows to be about 27–30 centimeters (about 11-12 inches) tall. It has beautiful orange feathers with small black spots. This owl lives in both wet evergreen forests and dry forests in eastern Madagascar. It can be found in untouched forests and even in areas where the forest has been changed by people. The red owl mostly eats small native mammals, like tenrecs and tufted-tailed rats. It builds its nests and rests in holes in trees or along rocky cliffs with lots of plants.
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What Does the Red Owl Look Like?
The red owl has a striking orange-red color with tiny black spots all over its body. Its eyes are usually a dark, smoky black. The beak is a light gray, and the fleshy part at the base of its upper beak, called the cere, is flesh-colored. Its feet are a smoke-grey color.
One red owl that was studied weighed about 323 grams (a little less than a pound). It was about 27.5 centimeters (11 inches) long. Its wing was about 20.9 centimeters (8 inches) long, and its tail was about 10 centimeters (4 inches) long.
How Does the Red Owl Sound?
The red owl's call is a screeching hiss, much like the barn owl's. This sound lasts for about 1.5 to 2 seconds. What makes it special is a slight drop in the sound's pitch right at the end. This small change helps tell it apart from the barn owl's call.
Red owls often call out when they leave their resting spots. They also make sounds right after they fly out and when they hear other red owls during the night.
Where Do Red Owls Live?
Since its rediscovery in 1993, we have learned a lot more about where the red owl lives. The first known nest was found in August 1995 in Madagascar. At first, people thought these owls only lived in the northern and far eastern parts of the island. But now, they have been seen in many more places. This includes northern Madagascar, along the eastern side, and even in the far southeast lowlands.
Red owls can live at many different heights, from sea level all the way up to 2,000 meters (about 6,500 feet) high. Because we are finding them in more places, some experts think the red owl might be more shy than truly rare. However, if there are still only a few of them, it is important to keep calling them vulnerable or even endangered. A careful guess suggests there are between 3,500 and 15,000 red owls left. This number seems to be going down.
It can be hard to find red owls for a few reasons:
- They are very shy and like to stay hidden.
- People sometimes mistake them for common barn owls during surveys.
- They might live in small, spread-out groups or not have many owls in one area.
Red owls live in many types of forests, from dry forests to wet evergreen forests. They like to rest on rocky ledges in deep valleys and at the entrances of caves. These spots are usually close to forests that have been changed a bit by people. Their resting places are often at least 3.7 meters (12 feet) off the ground.
These owls seem to prefer areas along the edge of forests and places where the habitat has been changed. This includes rice fields and areas where forests have been cleared and burned for farming. Red owls use these types of areas for their homes, resting spots, and hunting grounds. They have never been seen in dense, untouched forests.
What Do Red Owls Eat?
Scientists have learned about the red owl's diet by studying their pellets (undigested food that owls cough up) and by watching them hunt. They mostly eat small mammals that are native to Madagascar. These include tenrecs and native rodents.
Their diet can also include insects, frogs, geckos, and other small creatures. One type of prey they often eat is the Tsingy tufted-tailed rat. In one study, these rats made up half of the food eaten by red owls in a place called Ankarana. While red owls will eat frogs if they are kept in captivity, they seem to prefer small mammals in the wild. Most of the animals they eat live in forests or along the forest edges.
It is interesting that red owls and barn owls, even though they look alike, eat very different things. Red owls mostly eat animals that are native to Madagascar. Barn owls, on the other hand, eat more animals that have been brought to the island by people, like the black rat.
Why Are Red Owls in Danger?
The biggest danger to the red owl is the fast rate of deforestation, which means forests are being cut down. This also leads to fragmentation, where large forests are broken into smaller pieces. Madagascar's forests are home to many unique plants and animals. Almost 90% of the island's species live in or near these forests.
In the 1950s, Madagascar had about 160,000 square kilometers (about 62,000 square miles) of forest. About 26% of this was dry forest, which is a favorite home for red owls. By the 2000s, the forest cover had shrunk to about 89,800 to 101,100 square kilometers (about 34,700 to 39,000 square miles). This means that dry forests, where red owls live, have shrunk by 41%. Most of this clearing happens in small areas along the edges of the forests.
Dry forests are also the most broken-up type of forest. This forest degradation is a big problem for red owls. It also harms the animals they eat, like the Tsingy tufted-tailed rats.
See also
In Spanish: Lechuza malgache para niños
