Great Horned Owl #1
by Amy E Fraser
Title
Great Horned Owl #1
Artist
Amy E Fraser
Medium
Painting - Oil Pastel On Paper
Description
The Great Horned Owl by Amy E. Fraser. This is an expressive owl portrait in shades of black, brown, white and gold with intelligent gold eyes complimented with an olive green textural background.
The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird with a vast range. It is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas. The primary diet is rabbits, hares, rats, mice, and voles, although it freely hunts any animal it can overtake, including small mammals, larger mid-sized mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. The great horned owl is generally colored for camouflage. The underparts of the species are usually light with some brown horizontal barring; the upper parts and upper wings are generally a mottled brown usually bearing heavy, complex, darker markings. All subspecies are darkly barred to some extent along the sides, as well. All great horned owls have a facial disc. This can be reddish, brown, or gray in color (depending on geographical and racial variation) and is demarked by a dark rim culminating in bold, blackish side brackets. This species' "horns" are tufts of feathers, called plumicorns. The purpose of plumicorns is not fully understood, but the hypothesis that they serve as a visual cue in territorial and sociosexual interactions with other owls is generally accepted. The great horned owl is the heaviest extant owl in Central and South America and is the second-heaviest owl in North America, after the closely related, but very different-looking snowy owl. It is heavily built, with a barrel-shaped body, a large head, and broad wings. Its size can vary considerably across its range, with populations in interior Alaska and Ontario being largest and populations in California and Texas being smallest. Adult great horned owls range in length from 17 to 25 inches and possess a wingspan of 3 to 5 feet. Females are somewhat larger than males. Mean body weight is 3.5 pounds for females and 2.6 pounds for males. Many warrior-based tribes of Native Americans admired the great horned owls for their "strength, courage and beauty".
Amy E. Fraser’s Oil Pastel Animal Portrait series is an impassioned tribute to the beauty and magic of our beloved Animal Kingdom. Fun, gestural and energetic, these vibrant animals are painted in a stylized realism that is imbued with distinctive character and personality.
The Great Horned Owl by Amy E. Fraser. Animal Portrait Paintings created from the artist’s intense connection to and love for all creatures great and small. Oil Pastel on archival paper. All images copyright Amy E. Fraser. All rights reserved.
Uploaded
April 27th, 2022
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