24 October 2009

Two owls on a stump


Scops-owls on a tree stump. These were photographed in India, but they are widespread in the Old World. Wiki says they are "colored in various brownish hues, sometimes with a lighter underside and/or face, which helps to camouflage them against the bark of trees." I'll say - it took me a long time to decide there were two owls in this photo.

This is a football weekend, so there's no time this morning to look up the origin of the interesting name. Or that of the even-more-curiously-named "flammulated owl."

Photo credit: Chris Johnson, published in The Guardian.

Addendum: "In French, you call them "petits Ducs scops", small scops dukes. Scops comes from the greek word σκοπι : to peer, to scrutinize. And Otus means the one who has ears. Thus the otus scops is the one who has ears and watches everything." Thanks, Mademoiselle.

Second addendum: "The Flammulated Owl was first described by German scientist Johann Jacob Kaup in 1852. The word flammeolus is latin for 'flame' or 'flame-shaped', refering to it's unique colouration" - found at The Owl Pages.

3 comments:

  1. In French, you call them "petits Ducs scops", small scops dukes. Scops comes from the greek word σκοπι : to peer, to scrutinize. And Otus means the one who has ears. Thus the otus scops is the one who has ears and watches everything.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Football Weekend?
    I didn't know you were a fan of the game. I don't remember seeing many football related posts here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Gbradley - there are lots of football blogs. I love the game, but defer on the topic for the blog.

    ReplyDelete

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