Tawny owl

The tawny owl or brown owl (Strix aluco) is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants. The nest is typically in a tree hole where it can protect its eggs and young against potential predators. This owl is non-migratory and highly territorial. Many young birds starve if they cannot find a vacant territory once parental care ceases.

This nocturnal bird of prey hunts mainly rodents, usually by dropping from a perch to seize its prey, which it swallows whole; in more urban areas its diet includes a higher proportion of birds. Vision and hearing adaptations and silent flight aid its night hunting. The tawny owl is capable of catching smaller owls, but is itself vulnerable to the eagle owl or northern goshawk.

Although many people believe this owl has exceptional night vision, its retina is no more sensitive than a human's. Rather, it is its asymmetrically placed ears that are key to its hunting because they give the tawny owl excellent directional hearing. Its nocturnal habits and eerie, easily imitated call, have led to a mythical association of the tawny owl with bad luck and death.

Owl

Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes about 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl.

Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except Antarctica and some remote islands.

Owls are divided into two families: the true owls or typical owls, Strigidae; and the barn-owls, Tytonidae.

Anatomy

Owls possess large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes; a hawk-like beak; a flat face; and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers, a facial disc, around each eye. The feathers making up this disc can be adjusted in order to sharply focus sounds from varying distances onto the owls' asymmetrically placed ear cavities. Most birds of prey have eyes on the sides of their heads, but the stereoscopic nature of the owl's forward-facing eyes permits the greater sense of depth perception necessary for low-light hunting. Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets—as are those of other birds—so they must turn their entire head to change views. As owls are farsighted, they are unable to see clearly anything within a few centimeters of their eyes. Caught prey can be felt by owls with the use of filoplumes—like feathers on the beak and feet that act as "feelers". Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good.

Index of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition monsters

This is the Index of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition monsters, an important element of that role-playing game. This list only includes monsters from official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition supplements published by TSR, Inc. or Wizards of the Coast, not licensed or unlicensed third party products such as video games or unlicensed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition manuals.

TSR 2009 - Monster Manual (1977)

This was the initial monster book for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, published in 1977. Gary Gygax wrote much of the work himself, having included and expanded most of the monsters from the previous D&D supplements. Also included are monsters originally printed in The Strategic Review, as well as some originally found in early issues of The Dragon (such as the anhkheg and remorhaz), and other early game materials. This book also expanded on the original monster format, such as including the stat lines on the same page as the monsters' descriptions and introducing more stats, expanding the length of most monster descriptions, and featuring illustrations for most of the monsters. The book features an alphabetical table of contents of all the monsters on pages 3–4, explanatory notes for the statistics lines on pages 5–6, descriptions of the monsters on pages 6–103, a treasure chart on page 105, and an index of major listings on pages 106-109.

Owl (band)

Owl is a three piece Los Angeles-based hard rock band. Led by vocalist/bassist Chris Wyse, the long-time bassist for the Cult and a member of Ace Frehley's band, Owl released their eponymous debut in 2009 and their second album, The Right Thing, in 2013.

History

Wyse began playing bass while in grade school in upstate New York. As a teenager, he met drummer Dan Dinsmore, then 17; shortly thereafter, they began playing together in a local band, East Wall. After touring regionally, Wyse, who had garnered national attention as a bass player, moved to Los Angeles, while Dinsmore remained in Albany, joining the industrial rock band The Clay People.

Wyse's success came quickly in Los Angeles, where he played with Guns N' Roses' Chris Pitman, Tool's Paul D'Amour, Tal Bachman, Mick Jagger, Scott Weiland, and Ozzy Osbourne before joining the Cult in 2006. Dinsmore's band also achieved significant success, particularly with the single Awake, from the Strangeland soundtrack which hit #1 on the metal charts. When the Clay People went on hiatus in 2001, Dinsmore continued his career as a drummer, playing with producer Mike Clink, known for his work with Metallica, among others.