In nature, all living organisms need food. Some animals eat plants, while others are carnivores and prefer to eat their own kind. The entire process is called food chains.
All power chains consist of three to five links. The first are usually producers - organisms that are capable of producing organic substances from inorganic ones.
These are plants that obtain nutrients through photosynthesis. Next come consumers - these are heterotrophic organisms that receive ready-made organic substances.
These will be animals: both herbivores and predators. The final link in the food chain is usually decomposers - microorganisms that decompose organic matter.
The food chain cannot consist of six or more links, since each new link receives only 10% of the energy of the previous link, another 90% is lost in the form of heat.
Origin of the species and description
Photo: Long-eared owl
Long-eared owl Asio otus. Owl order. Genus of long-eared owls. Species Long-eared owl. Owls have quite ancient origins. At the beginning of the Cenozoic era in the Eocene, these birds already inhabited the ancient forests of America, as evidenced by the ancient fossils of these birds found by scientists. Many extinct birds belonged to modern genera. The barn owl lived during the Miocene period, eagle owls have been known since the late Eocene.
Video: Long-eared owl
Ancient owls were very different from modern birds; they were not predators, and had behavioral differences. Over many years of evolution, birds of this species have developed their own specific style of hunting. Owls do not chase their prey, as other birds do, but lie in wait for their prey and quickly attack it. Today, owls are a well-separated group of birds in all respects. Systematically, owls are related to nightjars, rickshaws and parrots.
The species Asio otus was first described by the Swedish naturalist and scientist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. This species has some features that distinguish long-eared owls from other representatives of this species. Long-eared owls have a pronounced facial disc; rather high feather tufts, which are called “Ears,” are noticeable on the bird’s head. Owls of this species have narrow and stiff feathers and a beautiful “marbled” color.
Consumption patterns
Animals are divided into groups according to their feeding methods. Examples of such groups:
- herbivores - snail, grasshopper, hare, mouse;
- insectivores - dragonfly, ground beetle, mole, frog;
- predators - owl, fox, wolf, tiger;
- omnivores - badger, bear.
The food pattern in the forest is different from others. Chains of decomposition are common here, because this is how flora and fauna are restored. The vegetation of the forest can be coniferous or deciduous. Insects eat decaying plant remains, rodents feed on insects, and a predator heads the top of the model. Some forest dwellers, such as the wolf or bear, become super predators.
In 3rd grade environmental lessons, an example of a food chain is reinforced with tests. Students are asked to create chains on their own from the options provided. For example:
- spider, rook, fly. Answer: fly - spider - rook;
- hawk, squirrel, mushroom. Answer: mushroom - squirrel - hawk;
- fox, grain, hare. Answer: grain - hare - fox.
Food structures support the health of the community. They provide control over the diversity and number of organisms. This promotes balance in nature. Animal food chains are extremely important, because if one link disappears, the system opens and all participants are threatened with extinction. Small representatives of the group - rodents or frogs - will be able to reproduce uncontrollably, while larger ones will die out due to lack of food. Therefore, it is important to monitor who eats what, forest ecology and endangered species.
Features of feeding
Before bringing an owl into your home, you should familiarize yourself with the rules for feeding these predators. The main thing to remember is the following features of feeding pets:
- Owls should be fed with whole carcasses or live prey. The use of fillet is allowed in extreme cases.
- You need to introduce new dishes to the predator’s menu one by one, gradually increasing portions to the recommended amount.
- When feeding from your hands, you should not make sudden movements. You must wait patiently until your pet treats himself to the offered treat.
- Bird breeders need to be prepared to constantly clean up pieces of flesh that fly out of the cage during meals. When eating, owls tear animals into small pieces that are easy to swallow.
- It is necessary to provide your pet with constant access to a drinking bowl with clean water.
- You should not overfeed your pet with plants, otherwise there is a risk of diarrhea.
- In captivity, owls move little, so in order to avoid obesity and liver disease, they sometimes need to unload. Frequency: once every 7-10 days.
After eating the whole carcass, within 10-12 hours the owl must regurgitate undigested feathers and bones - the so-called pellet. If this does not happen, you need to contact a veterinarian - your pet most likely has problems with the digestive tract.
Who can eat a swallow?
Insectivores eat insects, spiders, and worms. These are many birds (swallows, swifts, woodpeckers, flycatchers), amphibians (toads, frogs), reptiles (lizards) and some animals (moles, bats). Example: the main prey of swallows are flies, mosquitoes, midges, and bugs.
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Where does the long-eared owl live?
Photo: Long-eared owl in the Moscow region
The habitat of the long-eared owl is quite extensive. These are Eurasia, Finland, Western Scandinavia. In the south it is Palestine, Iran, the Pamirs and the southern part of Altai. They often nest in the Nanypan Mountains and eastern Tibet. Birds also live in Southern Arizona, Oklahoma, Virginia, Northern California, Scotland, and North America.
Long-eared owls inhabit islands such as the Canary, British, Azores, Japanese, and Sicilian Peninsula. They are found in large numbers in Armenia; they like to settle in the mountainous regions of the Tien Shan, where these birds like to spend the winter. They can settle in the mountains at an altitude of up to 2 thousand meters above sea level.
In Russia, birds of this species can be found almost throughout the country. Owls settle in tall forests in the Perm, Orenburg regions, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Tula, Lipetsk, Oryol, Kursk and other regions. It has also been noticed that in St. Petersburg and its region, birds sometimes remain for the winter.
In addition, owls of this species live in the Caucasus, Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Georgia. Long-eared owls are migratory birds. These birds arrive in central Russia at the end of March - April. In autumn in September, owls fly to warm countries for the winter. Owls nest in mixed forests, parks, and bushes. They often occupy old nests of birds of prey.
Food for owls at home
Before breeding owls in captivity, it is imperative to understand what owls eat at home. And after that, evaluate your capabilities, whether you will be able to provide your pet with a suitable diet.
It is especially difficult to feed wild birds that find themselves in unusual conditions. You need to protect your face and hands, and then simply push small pieces of fresh meat into the birds. The task is not easy, but it is the only way to prevent them from starving to death. Of course, everything must be done very carefully so as not to harm the feathered pet. After a few days, the bird will understand that living in a cage has certain advantages - from safety to plentiful food that does not need to be obtained at the risk of its life.
On a note! Most owls kept in good conditions live 2-5 times longer than their wild relatives.
It is impossible to feed birds with meat alone. Ideally, they should be fed exclusively the food they are accustomed to in the wild. Mice and small birds such as sparrows or starlings are an excellent choice for most bird predators. Few people can provide them with such nutrition, but they cannot completely refuse it.
Therefore, four days a week, owls can be fed meat - it is best to cut it into small pieces. The main thing is that it is not minced meat - the powerful owl’s beak is simply not designed for such food, just like its clawed paws.
Feeding an owl
Twice a week they need to be fed mice - live or pre-killed. A couple of mice a day are enough to make the average owl feel happy.
Finally, the seventh day should be a fasting day so that the owl does not gain excess weight due to lack of activity.
It is also advisable for owls to sometimes throw feathers of any birds into the cage. If they feel a lack of calcium, they will eat them with pleasure, and at the same time clear their stomach.
Do owls eat plant foods?
Ornithologists still cannot definitively answer this question. On the one hand, in tropical countries you can quite often see feathered predators feasting on exotic fruits. On the other hand, it is not clear whether birds such as the tawny owl or scops owl eat plants. After all, their diet is mainly studied by droppings - in it you can see bones, wool, insect shells and other remains of victims. But plant foods, if they are included in the diet, are completely digested.
Interesting fact! The elf owl is one of the smallest in the family - its body length is no more than 14 cm and weighs up to 45 g.
But the fact that owls are able to digest grains, grass and pieces of fruit is undoubtedly. We have already discussed above what owls eat in the forest, meadows and tundra. These are mostly rodents. They feed on seeds and grass. Of course, when eating rodents, the predator swallows the contents of their stomachs along with them. Therefore, ornithologists, not without reason, believe that birds obtain all the necessary vitamins, carbohydrates and other nutrients needed for normal development from the contents of the stomachs of their victims.
What types of owls hunt fish?
Quite often bird lovers are interested in the question of whether owls eat fish. It turns out that for some species, fish is the main source of calories. But there are relatively few of them. First of all this:
- Red fish - lives only in West Africa, for example, Liberia, Ghana, Guinea and some other countries. Red plumage and dark brown eyes distinguish it from a number of relatives.
- Striped fish also lives in Africa, but can be found in almost all parts of the continent. The bird is very large - its wingspan is up to one and a half meters, and its weight is up to 2.3 kg.
- The fish owl is the largest bird in the entire owl family. It lives only in Japan, as well as in the Far East. Their method of hunting is interesting - they fly low over the water, snatching unwary fish. Unlike most of its “relatives,” the eagle owl hunts not only at dusk, but also during the day.
Fish owl
What does an owl eat if it lives on the coast? Many species do not disdain mussels, crabs and fish washed ashore.
What are food chains like?
There are two types: pasture and detrital. The first ones are more common in nature. In such chains, the first link is always the producers (plants). They are followed by consumers of the first order - herbivores. Next are second-order consumers—small predators.
Behind them are consumers of the third order - large predators. Further, there may also be fourth-order consumers, such long food chains are usually found in the oceans. The last link is the decomposers.
The second type of food chain - detrital - is more common in forests and savannas. They arise due to the fact that most of the plant energy is not consumed by herbivores, but dies, then undergoing decomposition by decomposers and mineralization.
Food chains of this type begin from detritus - organic remains of plant and animal origin. The first-order consumers in such food chains are insects, for example, dung beetles, or scavenger animals, for example, hyenas, wolves, vultures. In addition, bacteria that feed on plant residues can be first-order consumers in such chains.
In biogeocenoses, everything is connected in such a way that most species of living organisms can become participants in both types of food chains.
Hedgehog and Owl
1. Once upon a time there lived a wise Owl. All was good. Things were going well. She wove canvases from news and gossip, But the world seemed insanely small to her. And on the other edge, in a ravine of the forest, there lived a dear Hedgehog - he was lazy and a rake. He was friends with the Frog and the hamsters. I was consumed by vanity and small matters. And then one day the Hedgehog, to spite his friends, stepped into the treacherous forest to meet miracles. What only the modest Hedgehog did not see: Cruelty of faces, insignificance and revelry. Here fate brought the two of them together, unhappy in some way and kindred in soul - the Owl, who was reputed to be wise, and the modest, naive Hedgehog. 2. Oh, wise one! Oh, stupid Owl! Tell me, where was your head, When you looked into the Hedgehog’s eyes, Stubborn and smart Owl?! You were ready to burn the whole world in order to save your love, but you took on too much, which frightened the modest Hedgehog! Your girlfriends and friends reproached, apparently not in vain, the stubborn, not modest Owl, who wanted to regain spring. One friend, your eternal companion, pretending to be a sleeping snake, plotted all her intrigues to the innocent Hedgehog... She herself fell in love, also to misfortune. I fell in love quietly, slowly, with an equally pretty hedgehog! But their romance is none of our business - the Owl went crazy with happiness! And poor Hedgehog, frightened by the Owl, lovingly praised her and invited her with him. Where? I didn’t know it then, but failure lay ahead of them. 3. While protecting the Hedgehog from everyone, Stubborn forgot about herself! She looked through the glass at everything that flowed around her. The owl wrote poems to him and tried to take him away from grievances, but he, not understanding these benefits, fearing her, strove into his ravine. Colleague Bird, speaking to the Hedgehog, Shamed the sweet dishonor with the stigma: “The Owl,” they say, “is married and has children!” Where are you going, my god?!” One Monkey, in general, sawed the Hedgehog on an oak stump: “You are nobody here! Don't go into our garden! Leave the Owl! Curb your arrogance!” And the Hedgehog ran away, he left the Owl - in her treacherous and large forest. The hedgehog was afraid of the opinions of others - unfortunate animals, stingy with love. The owl apparently waited for ten days. And Hedgehog started searching. Found it! With her claws, she somehow grabbed her and again dragged her into the treacherous forest. Well, the Hedgehog and the Owl explained, Everything seemed to be over - the chapter was over, But what to do, because they are in love And we can’t put an end to this again!.. 4. Their time passed. The novel was bursting at the seams. The owl went to unknown animals. And the Hedgehog remained in that wild forest, Finding a Snake as his lover. Now my story is over. The ending is sad this time. But maybe Owl and Hedgehog will see each other again - everything will be fine?! We will not judge history. Not a pair of Hedgehog for an Owl. But if it’s love... That’s the end. I close the fairytale casket. 2003-2008.
Let's discuss!
Why do food chains start with plants?
Any food chain begins with plants, because they are the only producers of organic food. Only plants can produce organic nutrients from carbon dioxide, water and sunlight.
What would happen if there were no frogs, snakes, owls, or dragonflies left on Earth?
- If there were no frogs left on earth, then snakes would have nothing to eat, and they would die out. But there would be a lot of mosquitoes.
- If there were no snakes left, the frogs would multiply and they would no longer have enough food. They too would begin to die out.
- If there were no owls left, mice would breed and the crops in the fields would perish.
- If there were no dragonflies left, then mosquitoes and flies would breed in huge numbers, which can be carriers of various diseases. And the birds that feed on dragonflies would die of starvation.
