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Numbers in the News: Superb Owls
Leading up to the Super Bowl, people share pictures of “Superb Owls” online. The internet meme is a play on the name of the NFL’s championship game.
DAVID TIPLING PHOTO LIBRARY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Barn owl
254
The total number of known owl species
DOMINIC MARLEY/GETTY IMAGES (GREAT GRAY OWL); ALL CANADA PHOTOS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (ELF OWL);
Great grey owl (left); Elf owl (right)
27 TO 32 INCHES
The height of one of the largest owl species: the great gray owl
5 TO 6 INCHES
The height of the world’s smallest owl species: the elf owl
CHRIS ZWAENEPOEL/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
270 DEGREES
The amount owls can rotate their head. That’s nearly all the way around!
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
1,000
The number of mice eaten by a family of barn owls in a three-month breeding season—helping control rodent populations
THINK ABOUT IT: No team in the National Football League has an owl mascot. Do you think an owl would be a good sports mascot? Why or why not?
SOURCES: AUDUBON, INTERNATIONAL ORNITHOLOGICAL CONGRESS WORLD BIRD LIST, THE OWLS TRUST, THE CORNELL LAB