Learning About Owls

Summary
This is an introductory lesson about the owl as a creature of the night. Activity A reinforces the facts learned in the lesson. Activity B gives students the opportunity to use the facts creatively in their own stories.

Objectives
• to describe and discuss the characteristics of an owl.

Suggested Grades
2nd Grade
3rd Grade

Excerpt
An owl is a bird of prey, or a raptor. Along with other raptors, like
eagles, owl have talons, on their feet. Talons are sharp claws used for catching prey. Owls also have hooked beaks for tearing prey apart.

Did you know that there are about 145 different types of owls in the world? The smallest is the Elf Owl which lives in the South West United States. He is only about 6 inches tall. The largest owl is the Great Grey Owl which lives in Canada and Alaska. He grows as big as 30 inches tall and has a wingspan of up to 60 inches. Find a measuring tape and see how long that is.

Owls are solitary creatures. That means they usually live on their own. They are also nocturnal, which means that they are awake and hunt at night. Although they can see during the day, their eyesight is very good in the dark.

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