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:
“How insupportable would be the days, if the night with its dews and darkness did not come to restore the drooping world. As the shades begin to gather around us, our primeval instincts are aroused, and we steal forth from our lairs, like the inhabitants of the jungle, in search of those silent and brooding thoughts which are the natural prey of the intellect.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Thoughts, like old vultures, prey upon their heart-strings,”
—Isaac Watts (1674–1748)
“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.)