Armchair Birding: The House of Owls, by Tony Angell
~Anne Kilgannon
It seems I can’t get enough of owls; they have me enthralled by their variety and mystery. This wonderfully illustrated book by Tony Angell filled with his close-up portraits of owl faces, owls in high perches, owls flying, catching prey, courting, quarreling with jays and other nuisances, and just “being owls” has delighted me and provided reams of information in digestible bites.
Angell describes the life-ways of twenty owl species, many of which live in nearby places where we might encounter them, especially given his tips of where and when and how to spot them. For each owl type he details their range and habitat, food preferences, vocalizations—from hoots to hisses, courtship and nesting strategies, and the threats they face balanced with conservation measures we could adopt to help them survive and thrive, and lastly, vital statistics of each kinds’ life expectancy, size and weight, and wing span. Reading each description, one after another, I marveled at the variety of their remarkable adaptations to the particular circumstances they faced in the wide range of environments where they find their sustenance. And yet, despite some being diurnal, some strictly night creatures, some living in deserts, others in deep woods, some tiny while some loom as giants, all are unmistakably owls. Their front-facing visages with those startling eyes are so like our own faces; we are instinctively drawn to them.
While appreciating the wealth of information given for each species, the most riveting stories Angell shares are those of his personal experiences with owls. He opens this book with a wonderful sketch of his engagement with a screech owl family who lived close by his own home in a forested area outside of Seattle. He discovered his owl neighbor that first winter during the courtship period. Angell hastily constructed a nesting box to replace a nesting cavity lost in a storm-downed tree, hoping to encourage the owls to stay nearby. Later, out on a walk, Angell describes hearing “a stream of owl singing that was clearly up-tempo” as the male advertised his acceptance of this new real estate acquisition. He sang persistently for days and nights and finally was answered by a call “lower in pitch and softer.” A female owl concurred with the quality of the proffered box and her song joined that of the male in a duet. It was the beginning of a long relationship between the owls and also with Angell and his family. And in turn, with we readers who are given a kind of longitude study of owl behavior and survival.
Moreover, sprinkled throughout the book Angell treats us to more of his personal encounters with owls, from childhood and onwards. One can trace his development as a bird-obsessed boy to his adult activities working with owls and other creatures, studying their ways, helping them thrive, and celebrating them through his artistry. It was those stories that most captivated me. And inspired me: what would it be like to know wild birds with such intimacy? To observe their ways and understand their needs, their life cycles, their particular calls and habits? To hold one and feel its weightlessness, its soft feathers and the iron grip of a hunter’s toes?
Angell’s stories encourage these imaginative and wishful wanderings. His close-up drawings of the different owl species and owls out in the world: hunting and being hunted, courting and home making, raising their families and quarreling with neighbors, swallowing impossibly large prey and showing up where you don’t expect them, are both charming and anatomically revealing. Like Amy Tan’s bird portraits, his drawings are better than photographs for capturing the nature of owls, his feelings for them and the fine details that distinguish each bird. His work is another reminder that drawing can open our eyes to the wild beauty and wonder of each creature. This book is a keeper!
