Owls may be are known for their trademark hooting noises, but a new study shows that they don't just rely on sound for communication. With some species having very large and sensitive eyes, you might expect that they would use visual signals too and that's exactly what a pair of Spanish biologists have found. Vincenzo Penteriani and Maria del Mar Delgado studied the eagle owl, and found that it marks its territories by recycling its meals - in more ways than one.
The eagle owl is the world's largest and is found in mountains and hilly forests throughout Europe and Asia. As breeding pairs prepare to raise a brood of chicks, various landmarks around their nest become streaked with brilliantly white marks that are noticeable from some distance away. Some of these are streaks of droppings ("faecal posts") and others are collections of matted feathers, plucked from dead birds ("plucking ...
