Understanding Owls: Biology, Management, Breeding, Training [Hardcover]

Jemima Parry-Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

With their glowing, unblinking eyes they seem to notice everything -- and to have the wisdom to understand it all, too. From biology and taxonomy, to housing, feeding, incubation, and rearing to training and flying, a master breeder and trainer of owls shares her extensive knowledge of these nighttime creatures -- both in the wild and in captivity. A general overview covers their anatomy, and a morphology details the various subfamilies of owl. Find out about the role their specially adapted -- and extremely beautiful feathers -- play in aiding their "silent flight"; the incredible variety of noises they make (and how these can help you identify a breed); the intricacies of their behavior patterns; and the way the babies are hatched, fed, and nurtured. Here's what you need for those first attempts at breeding and to train and hunt with your birds of prey. Dozens of remarkable full-color photos provide a close-up look at barn owls, Eagle owls, tawny owls, and snowy owls.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This book represents an entirely different way of looking at owls: from the standpoint of those who want to keep and breed them in captivity. The author has written a number of other books on keeping and taming birds of prey. Her approach to studying owls is therefore a practical one. Beginning with two short chapters on owl taxonomy and biology, the author moves quickly to the meat of her work, the keeping of owls. She makes the point that the first question potential owl keepers should ask is, Why do I want one? She then covers all of the working aspects of owl keeping: housing, equipment, feeding, breeding, and training. The British bias to the book is its only weakness, lessening the usefulness of the appendixes, not to mention the problem of the differences between wildlife laws in the U.K. and the U.S. However, the author's no-nonsense approach to the keeping of owls is refreshing, and her advice has broad applicability to the keeping of birds in captivity. Nancy Bent

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: David & Charles (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 071530643X
• ISBN-13: 978-0715306437
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #753,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Owls - Boring? Or a hoot?, June 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding Owls: Biology, Management, Breeding, Training (Hardcover)

I purchased this title after reading her second book: "Understanding Birds of Prey"; and I found this to have been both an interesting and informative read. This book, lives up to, if not exceeds that high standard that her preceeding books have set. When I hope to purchase an owl of my own, this book will act as my bible! Her unique, if not aggressive, writing style makes other Birds of Prey authors seem almost lax in their approach to informing the reader. Well worth the money spent and allows one to make an informed decision regarding captive birds.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite so understanding., September 26, 2004

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Understanding Owls: Biology, Management, Breeding, Training (Paperback)

Having had a passion for Owls since I was a boy, it was only a matter of time (and the right amount of land) before I began keeping them. Initially, I learned a great deal from knowledgeable friends who's support continues. It wasn't long, however, before some of the well-meaning advice from one friend was being contradicted by another and occasionally I needed to consult a more expert source altogether.

I had already come across this author's name and a book with the title "Understanding Owls" seemed exactly what I needed. What a pity that the one message which comes across from this book - Loud and Clear, is that the Owl is not Miss Parry-Jones' favourite bird. In fact, I don't think she likes them at all. Having read the book and certain sections more than once, I am left thinking perhaps it is the author who needs to learn a little "understanding."

Commencing with a short section on taxonomy and where the Owl fits in to the overall scheme of things, we then find coverage of such subjects as biology, distribution/habitat, diet, feeding, reproduction, survival and status before coming on to the all-important topic of keeping them. It is here that the author tries to deter the would-be keeper by commencing with the subject of "Problems" and immediately exaggerates the noise owls create. After a page on "Giving a Home to Wild Disabled Birds" she summarises what she has written so far with the words "So what have we got? Owls are noisy, and generally not much fun just to watch in a pen; that leaves us with owls for breeding and flying." (Incidentally, the errors in punctuation and grammar are not mine).

So far, her own down-beat attitude towards these magnificent birds makes you wonder why she bothers keeping them at all. Furthermore, you could be forgiven for thinking she was being forced to write this book against her will.

All that said, those first 40 pages then prove to be nothing more than a rather poor introduction to what now becomes a fairly useful book. Whilst still encountering the anti-owl sentiment here and there, we are now treated to the well described and illustrated subjects of; Housing, breeding, management, incubation, rearing, training and hunting.

Sadly, just as we were beginning to smile, the author returns to a very down-beat message at the end under the heading "Hunting." The message here has nothing whatsoever to do with hunting or even what is involved, just a couple of anecdotes about problems experienced by other people coupled with the author's wish to put off the reader at all costs. A bit like "I've started (in this way) - so I'll finish (in this way)." Which is altogether a great pity because this book could have been so much better.

NM

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, January 18, 2002

By 

Colin Schooling (Dorset, Southern England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding Owls: Biology, Management, Breeding, Training (Paperback)

This book is truely great!! It has provided me with the vital information required to keep an Owl. The chapter on training the bird was most interesting and continues to be most useful!! I recommend this book to anyone seriously considering to going into Owls, you won't regret it!!