Barn Owl

: Barn Owl; Taken at the Latodami Enviromental Education Center located in North Park, Western Pennsylvania.; Created by: Marysham.; Tools Used: Canon digi and Adobe; Created on: January 28, 2007; Image Views: 224; Average Views per Day: 0.5; Image Number: 34530

Comments:

Mary Sham from Pgh, PA on Jun 7, 2007 at 11:12 AM said:

Karen, Beverly, and Tania, thanks for your wonderful comments. Always appreciated and I'm sorry my thank you is so late.

Mary Sham from Pgh, PA on Jun 7, 2007 at 11:10 AM said:

Mike, I'm sorry I'm so late in thanking you for the information on the Barn Owl. It is very interesting and I've printed it out. Thanks againg for taking the time to do this! I appreciate it.

Tania (TMR8) from Taranaki New Zealand on Mar 6, 2007 at 3:37 AM said:

what a beauty he is. love all the coments on your photo

Talsi from WNC on Feb 1, 2007 at 10:23 AM said:

Wonderful portrait of the Barn Owl. And Mike, your informtion was very interesting.

km from TX on Jan 31, 2007 at 6:58 AM said:

Beautiful color with all the browns. Would make a greaat Valentine's Day card.

grumpy(mike) from engalnd(mboro) on Jan 31, 2007 at 3:11 AM said:

Folklore surrounding the Barn Owl is better recorded than for most other Owls. In English literature the Barn Owl had a sinister reputation probably because it was a bird of darkness, and darkness was always associated with death. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the poets Robert Blair and William Wordsworth used the Barn Owl as their favourite "bird of doom." During that same period many people believed that the screech or call of an Owl flying past the window of a sick person meant imminent death.

The Barn Owl has also been used to predict the weather by people in England. A screeching Owl meant cold weather or a storm was coming. If heard during foul weather a change in the weather was at hand.

The Custom of nailing an Owl to a barn door to ward off evil and lightning persisted into the 19th century.

Another traditional English belief was that if you walked around an Owl in a tree, it would turn and turn its head to watch you until it wrung its own neck.

Among early English folk cures, alcoholism was treated with Owl egg. The imbiber was prescribed raw eggs and a child given this treatment was thought to gain lifetime protection against drunkenness.

Owls' eggs, cooked until they turned into ashes, were also used as a potion to improve eyesight.

Owl Broth was given to children suffering from Whooping-cough.

Odo of Cheriton, a Kentish preacher the 12th Century has this explanation of why the Owl is nocturnal: The Owl had stolen the rose, which was a prize awarded for beauty, and the other birds punished it by allowing it to come out only at night.

In parts of northern England it is good luck to see an Owl.California Newuks believed that after death, the brave and virtuous became Great Horned Owls. The wicked, however, were doomed to become Barn Owls. hope this helps mary x

Mary Sham from Pgh, PA on Jan 30, 2007 at 9:21 PM said:

Thanks everyone for your comments and knowledge. Mike, if you see this, I'd like to know more about what this owl is associated with.

Whittler from Maine on Jan 29, 2007 at 5:01 PM said:

Thanks for the info Mike,I learned something new today,I didn't know that.

grumpy(mike) from engalnd(mboro) on Jan 29, 2007 at 4:03 PM said:

the barn owl have been assoc.with death and other things too the brown mark is where its ears are whittler

sparkle1103 from Illinois on Jan 29, 2007 at 2:32 PM said:

Superb shot. It almost looks like he is smiling. Did you notice that his head is shaped like a heart?

GRUMPY(MIKE) from ENGLAND(MBORO) on Jan 29, 2007 at 10:27 AM said:

er what happened here the poor bird looks em fat!no wonder he is lonely lol.. joking aside have a look at my baby called jazzy

Whittler from Maine on Jan 29, 2007 at 7:51 AM said:

WOW!! what a nice portrait,his face has an interesting marking between his eyes.