Prey
These birds wait on perches to swoop down on unsuspecting prey; they may also catch insects in flight. Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, birds, and large insects. They are active at dawn, night or near dusk, using their excellent hearing and night vision to locate prey.
Read more about this topic: Western Screech Owl
Famous quotes containing the word prey:
“I love to see that Nature is so rife with life that myriads can be afforded to be sacrificed and suffered to prey on one another; that tender organizations can be so serenely squashed out of existence like pulp.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A lioness, with udders all drawn dry,
Lay couching, head on ground, with cat-like watch
When that the sleeping man should stir; for ‘tis
The royal disposition of that beast
To prey on nothing that doth seem as dead.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Careless credulity makes them the prey of those they trusted; and then they repeat their
mistake by suspecting all alike.”
—Marcus Minucius Felix (2nd or 3rd cen. A.D.)