# Owl Characteristics and Owl Facts
There are well over two hundred owl species in the world, and new types of owls are still being identified each year. Not a lot is known about owls compared to many other birds and animals. Part of the reason is that owls are nocturnal and not easy to follow around. Many people have heard the cry of an owl, particularly at night, but they have not ever seen an owl. Here are Owl Characteristics and Owl Facts.
Because owls live just about everywhere in the world unless you live in Antarctica, the chances are pretty good an owl species are living in your area. Some people are afraid of owls that they are no threat to humans. They help all of us and especially farmers by keeping rodent populations down.
Owl species are birds in the Order of Strigiformes, and there are two different families: the typical owls (Strigidae) and barn owls (Tytonidae). These species tend to be very hard to identify, even for scientists. One of the first items they consider is the shape of the face and whether or not the owl has ear tufts.
Size and weight are also a consideration. For instance, the typical owl species is in the five to the twenty-eight-inch range, and weights range from 1.5 ounces to around nine pounds. The barn owl species can be from nine to twenty-one inches tall and weigh anywhere from eight ounces to three pounds.
Owls can live to be over twenty years old. Some of the most well-known owl species are the horned owl, mottled owl, snowy owl, northern and southern white-faced owl, Rufous-banded owl, and the eastern screech owl.
# Owl Breeding
Owls tend to be very solitary and even mating within the same owl species is not easy in the beginning. The female is naturally afraid of the male owl, and it will take a while for him to convince her that this is all meant to be. The male will often bring food and drop it near his intended mate to show her that there is nothing to fear. Still, it can take many hours before she responds positively.