For millennia, people have been obsessed with and enchanted by owls.  But only lately have scientists begun to understand in deep detail the complex nature of these extraordinary birds.  Some 260 species of owls exist today, and they reside on every continent except Antarctica, but they are far more difficult to find and study than other birds because they're cryptic, camouflaged, and mostly active in the dark of night.  Now, with the help of new tools and technology, researchers are revealing the secrets of these enigmatic birds--how they talk to one another, how they "see"sound, and how they fly quiet as moths; how they court their mates in wild and outlandish ways, fiercely protect their nests, migrate huge distances, and survive the radically changing conditions of our planet.  This book tells the story of how we've come to understand owls, their biology, brains, and behavior, and explores their many surprises:  some owls live in underground burrows; some roost in large groups;some adopt orphan young; some dine on black widows and scorpions; some listen for the faint rustle of a vole deep beneath more than a foot and a half of snow

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Jennifer Ackerman brings this research alive with her own personal field observations about owls and dives deep into why these birds beguile us...(She) has been writing about science and nature for more than three decades.  Her previous books include The Genius of Birds, Birds by the Shore, Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, and Chance in the House of Fate.  She is the recipient of...a national Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction, a Bunting Fellowship, and a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  

 

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* from the book jacket