One hunting technique is called perch and pounce. Animals that eat insects are called insectivores. Some owls, like the Flammulated Owl eat insects almost exclusively. Occasionally, Great Horned Owls might even find skunks tasty enough to eat.
An owl's diet may also include frogs, lizards, snakes, fish, mice, rabbits, birds, squirrels, and other creatures. Small, rodent-like mammals, such as voles and mice, are the primary prey for many owl species. Many owl species are carnivores, or meat eaters. Owls spend much of their waking time hunting for food. Crepuscular species are active during dusk and dawn. There are some owl species who are diurnal, however, meaning they are active during the day but rest at night. Many owl species are nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. Becoming familiar with these songs and other vocalizations will help you find and identify owls. Many owls vocalize at a distinctively low frequency, which allows their songs to travel long distances without being absorbed by vegetation. The second family, Strigidae, includes all other owls, most of which have round faces. The family called Tytonidae includes Barn Owls, which have heart-shaped faces. That group is divided into two smaller groups, known as families. Owls belong to a group of birds called Strigiformes. They live on every continent except icy Antarctica. There are about 250 species of owls in the world. Most owl species are active at night, not in the daytime. Most owls have huge heads, stocky bodies, soft feathers, short tails, and a reversible toe that can point either forward or backward. Adventurers or particularly capable caravaneers occasionally left them beaten, but they never did enough lasting damage to threaten the orcs' survival.Like hawks and eagles, owls are called raptors, or birds of prey, which means they use sharp talons and curved bills to hunt, kill, and eat other animals.īut owls are different from hawks and eagles in several ways.
Unlike previous owners, the orcs did not charge travelers to use the well instead, they simply attacked passers-by. Nearly 3 millennia later, the orc occupants of the Well numbered around 600. In the time of Netheril, Old Owl Well was occupied by a group of warriors who kept the peace and a smaller group of arcanists who used crystal balls to scry on nearby Illefarn, watching for signs of aggression. During that time, a Red Wizard of Thay named Hamun Kost, who had tattooed himself with necrotic symbols, began searching the area for hidden lore of an ancient time.
However, the well still pumped clean, fresh water. In approximately 1491 DR, Old Owl Well was nothing but a ruined watchtower that had nothing but a few crumbling walls. Thankfully, the efforts of the Kalach-Cha and the paladin Casavir allowed Neverwinter to keep possession of the site for the foreseeable future. The Neverwinter Greycloaks under the command of Callum of the Neverwinter Nine retook Old Owl Well from the orcs so that a direct trade route to Triboar and Yartar could be re-established in order to bring more money into the coffers of struggling Neverwinter, still recovering from its war with Luskan. Since 1360 DR, a tribe of orcs held Old Owl Well for at least a decade. Every group that held any power in the nearby regions since the Netherese left (except the Harpers) claimed ownership of the site. Old Owl Well remained a strategically important watering hole. Ī watchtower was built by Arthindol at this location to act as an outpost. The enclave of Quesseer was built nearby, which served as a trading post for the Netherese and nearby demihuman nations until Quesseer's abandonment in −2095 DR. Once secured, arcanists arrived and began to drill a hole that eventually dug more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) below the surface then, with an extensive system of pipes, they established an everlasting water supply that could provide 20 gallons (76 liters) per day. The outpost was named "Old Owl Well" after the victory over the owlbears. However, the area was infested with owlbears, so the Terraseer had his scouts destroy the 3,000-strong population of beasts in an event known as the Caravan War. The Terraseer himself identified a perfect spot for one such outpost to be built north of a mineral-rich mountain range not far east of northern Illefarn. They established several outposts at which Netherese travelers heading west could get fresh horses and supplies. In 1491 NY (−2368 DR), at the adamant insistence of the Terraseer, the Empire of Netheril began earnestly colonizing the Savage Frontier.