Oak Ridge, TN February 2007 These gulls were seen at the Oak Ridge Marina. Ring-billed gulls are commonly seen along the rivers in east Tennessee in the winter. It is not unusual to see them in large parking lots in search of leftover scraps of food. Sometimes gulls are called "rats with wings" because of their scavenging habits. Many types of gulls have a red spot on the lower beak where the chicks peck to get a regurgitated meal. This gull does have more than one leg! Gulls often pull one foot up and stand on the other one. This was not a cold day, so it wasn't to keep its foot warm.
The Great Horned Owl is larger than the Barred Owl. I photographed this beautiful bird at the Chattanooga Nature Center. The owl doesn't have horns or external ears, only feather tufts used in camouflage.
The Barred Owl is common in east Tennessee. I photographed this one at Frozen Head State Park during a ranger presentation. It was injured as a youngster when it became tangled in a barbed wire fence, the damaged wing had to be removed. I once called up one of these owls while leading a naturalist hike at Tremont in the Great Smoky Mountains. My fellow hikers and I were amazed when a large owl flew silently into a nearby tree. The call of the Barred Owl sounds like, "Who, who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?" They must be southern owls! :) These owls are helpful predators, they eat mice, rats, squirrels, and snakes. Owls can't turn their heads all the way around as some people mistakenly believe. Being nocturnal, owls have large eyes so they can take in small amounts of light, even from the stars. They have such big eyes they can't move them, so they turn their head. The ears of owls are asymmetrical (one higher than the other) so they can triangulate to find their prey at night.
