White Faced Scops Owl
by Amy E Fraser
Title
White Faced Scops Owl
Artist
Amy E Fraser
Medium
Painting - Oil Pastel On Paper
Description
The White Faced Scops Owl by Amy E. Fraser. This is an expressive owl portrait in shades of black, white, beige, blue and gray with magnificent orange eyes complimented with a vibrant orange textural background.
The northern white-faced owl (Ptilopsis leucotis) is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. The southern white-faced owl (P. granti) was formerly included in this species and the two were known as the white-faced scops-owl. It is found in a band across Africa between the Sahara and the Equator. This owl has a rather notable defense mechanism. When faced with a similar-sized predator (like another owl slightly larger than it), the bird flares its wings to appear larger. When faced with something much larger than itself (such as an eagle), it pulls its feathers inwards, elongates its body, and narrows its eyes to thin slits. It is thought that it uses this ability to camouflage itself, and it shares the ability with relatives like the African scops owl. Many different types of owls have some ability to adopt a "concealing posture", also known by the German word Tarnstellung, in which they squeeze and thin their body to look like a broken tree branch, and some types may also narrow their eyes to slits and fold a wing sideways across their chest in a Dracula-like manner to hide the lighter-colored feathers on their underparts. Such behavior has also been documented in Eastern screech owls in a natural setting reacting to threats.
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 White Faced Scops 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
February 3rd, 2023
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