Come and join us at Greenwood Furnace State Park on Saturday evening, January 11, at 6:00 pm for an Owl Prowl. The program will begin at the Visitor Center Park Office. The Owl Prowl will begin with a short talk on owls, followed by a walk outside to try to find some owls. Be sure to dress for the weather outside, and bring a flashlight.

Some of the most fascinating creatures of the night are the owls. They are a group of birds known as raptors, or birds of prey, and are a major night predator of rodents and other small animals. Owls are specially equipped for silent flight. Unlike hawks and eagles, whose flapping wings can be heard, owls have specialized feathers that make their flying virtually silent. Their eyes are very large to be able to see in near total darkness. In comparison, human eyes would have to be as big as softballs to see that well. They are so large that they are fixed in the owl’s skull, meaning that owls have to turn their heads to see side to side. Contrary to popular belief, owls cannot turn their heads fully around, but with twice as many vertebrae in their necks as humans do, they can turn their heads much further than we can.