Silent assassins, owls are supreme stealth performers. Scything through the darkness, their separable, serrated feathers micro-manage air-flow so that the sound of their wings sinks almost to zero, as their asymmetric ears, one higher than the other, are specifically evolved to locate prey in the most challenging low-light conditions. Even their faces are precisely shaped to direct sound-waves according to their specific hearing preferences.
Amid the grasslands, forests and pastures of National Park Galichica, five owl species have been confirmed and three more are predicted. For some, the mountain is an owl-eat-owl world of twilit territorial battles and shifting moonlit kingdoms, where each generation must defend against the next. For others, it is one small corner of a fluid globe in which home follows food resources wherever they may be.
Here is each Galichica species introduced (through their own words).
Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo)
I’m the boss round here. The chief. The kaiser. They don’t call me Eagle for nothing. The last fox that crossed me? Let’s just say he won’t be back soon, and hare, weasel, hawk or even other owls, all feel the terror of my talons in their backs. I widen my wings big as your whole body and shape the ecosystem like I rule my rocky mountain territory. From the top down.
Ohrid SOS 