Texas Wildlife Association presents....

March 2012 Kid’s Quarterly Mini-Mag! Vol. 6 No. 1

Postcards from Nancy...By Carolyn Bierschwale Greetings from West Texas! I’m writing to you from the beautiful plant and wildlife It’s fairly light in weight and seems to be made mostly of fur. I refuge of Guadalupe Mountains National Park located around am going to investigate it by carefully taking it apart. Would Salt Flat, Texas, which is about 110 driving miles east of El you like to help?” Paso. Grant the Gopher and I are on an adventure to look for “Sure,” I chuckled. “I’ll let you do the touching while I do the common signs that animals leave behind, such as tracks, food watching.” scraps, droppings, nests, burrows, and marks on trees. These This odd-shaped clump was grayish-brown and about the give us clues about where they live, what they eat, and their size of a small chicken egg. As Grant delicately pulled small daily or nightly activities. clumps of fur and fiber away, we discovered tiny, white bits What’s so fantastic about a place like this is that both the scattered throughout the oblong mass. Each bit was set aside days and nights are filled with interesting things to see, smell, until all of the fur was separated, then Grant and I studied what and hear. We are amazed at the evidence of all Owl pellet with contents we found. that goes on around us! Steep slopes and high (Wikimedia) “Wow!” exclaimed Grant. “These are bones! ridges set a stunning backdrop while we follow a Do you see the tiny jaw, leg bones, and skull? This desert trail marked with broken egg shells, rodent mustm be the remains of some animal’s meal, like footprints, hawk feathers, and an occasional wewe saw in the raccoon poop!” whiff of coyote urine (pew!) Small piles of dark “What an exciting discovery,” I said. “It looks droppings reveal bits of colorful berries that were likelik droppings, only it’s made of fur and rodent once part of a raccoon’s meal. At dark, if Grant’s bones,bo like a giant hairball. Let’s look in our not snoring, I like to lay back, stare at the stars, animalan signs field books to find out what this and listen for the hoots and howls of the nighttime mightm be.” hunters. Though I cannot see these predators, Our research showed us that the mass is called I am aware that the coyotes and owls are out there,here silently an owl pellet. pellet I explained, “It is the regurgitation of indigestible stalking their prey. parts. In other words, an owl swallows its prey whole. The fur, One morning, I arose from my tent and sleepily walked feathers, and bones of mice and small birds are too hard to to the picnic table where Grant was sitting. He seemed to digest so the owl throws up a rounded, compacted pellet of the be quietly concentrating on something lying on the table. As waste.” I looked at the ground around him, I matter-of-factly said, “Well, that’s a hoot!” responded Grant. “Hmm… I can tell what you ate for breakfast by your leftover Pellets are a common sign of owls present in an area. roots, seed pods, and tossed cactus spines.” I pointed to the Discovering and dissecting one can be an exciting way to trash can, but Grant was too busy to notice my gesture. investigate one of the many interesting traits of owls. You can I sat down at the table and gasped at what Grant was visit www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/index.htm for studying so intently. “What is that disgusting clump of fuzz that a virtual owl pellet dissection. you’re picking at? It’s not dessert, is it?” ‘Owl’ be seeing you! Grant laughed, “Oh no, Nancy. It’s something I found while on my morning walk near an old, hollow oak tree in a canyon. Nancy Nine-band

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____ Life Member $2,400 ____ President’s Council $1,000 ____ Corporate $635 ____ Patron $375 ____ Family $230 ____ Active $145 ____ Associate $40 ____ Student $20 ____ Youth $12 (ages 17-22) (ages 16 & under) All members receive a one year subscription to our monthly magazine, Texas Wildlife. Kids Sp tlight Questionnaire 1. What is your name? Audrey 2. What city/town do you live in? Houston, Texas 3. How old are you? 9 years old 4. What grade are you in? 4th grade 5. What is your favorite school subject? Why? Music, because I can imagine I’m in a different world. 6. What is your least favorite school subject? Why? Math, because it’s very hard and you have to think so much. 7. What are some of your hobbies? I like singing outside, playing with animals, and I like taking pictures of nature. 8. What is your favorite outdoor activity? Making piles of leaves, and then jumping into them! 9. What do you want to be when you grow up? I would like to be a country singer because you get to go to different places for music videos, and all sorts of things. 10. Who is your “hero”? Taylor Swift because she loves the outdoors, and she’s a country music singer. 11. If you were granted one wish, what would you wish for? All the kids who need help would get help, and there would be no more homeless people. 12. Describe yourself in three words. Caring, not shy, and a good friend. 13. What is the best way for kids to get involved with the outdoors? Just spending an hour or 30 minutes outside playing your favorite games. 2 2 Photos courtesy of Audrey’s family puzzles.....mazes.....oh my! go ahead.....give it a try!

Owl Sudoku Directions: Cut out the shaded owl pieces below and place them in the grid so that each row and column contains one of each.

word searches......

Predator - Prey Maze Created by Puzzlemaker at DiscoveryEducation.com Directions: Owls are nocturnal so nighttime means dinnertime! Help the owl to the mouse by working your way through the maze.

Eastern Screech-Owl by Suzy Beck

Fisher Reyna Education offers professional Sudoku Key: development and a website subscription Maze Key: to provide resources in reading and writing. They work to better connect teaching and testing. See them at www.fisherryena. com. TWA and Critter Connections have partnered with Fisher Reyna Education to bring authentic children’s content in reading language arts. 3 corner Photo by While all owls possess a form of these adaptations, each (feathers) that vary from light gray to dark brown overall and heavily mottled Russell Graves species boasts unique features which enable survival in a particular (with blotches), has yellow eyes and wide-set ear tufts. It can be found environment. Described next are a few of Texas’ common owls and statewide in forests, meadows, suburban parks, agricultural areas, and at their features: the outer edges of landfills. The Great Horned Barn Owl -- This owl is known throughout Owl’s call is 4-6 deep hoots, like hoo-hoo- the world and is well-known for its heart-shaped hoooo hoo-hoo. face and dark eyes. Its body is mostly golden Burrowing Owl -- Best known for and brown with white underneath, and spotted appropriately named for its burrowing habits in with black and gray. Its role in rodent control grazed pastures and prairies, this small owl is c makes it a favorite rooster of both urban and easily identified by its long legs and oversized agricultural areas. The barn owl can be found eyes. It has brown upperparts with white flecks nesting in hollow areas of a tree, building, (spots), yellow bill, and no ear tufts. Often cave, or bridge throughout most of the state seen perched atop fence posts or rocks near its year-round, except in the Trans-Pecos Mountain underground burrow entrance, the Burrowing Burrowing Owl by Rusty Ray region. It prefers small rodents but may also Barn Owl by Wyman Meinzer Owl can be found year-round in the western r Eyes of the take snakes, lizards, birds, and large insects. third of Texas and is a regular winter migrant to the rest of the state Its call includes harsh, raspy screeches, hisses, and eastward until the Pineywoods region. It uses its talons to enlarge metallic clicking sounds. an abandoned ground squirrel or prairie dog burrow and can even Night Western and Eastern Screech-Owls -- These be found in dry, developed areas near airports and golf courses. two small owls live year-round in Texas, roosting in Their diet consists of mostly ground insects such as grasshoppers and By Carolyn Bierschwale hollow trees or old buildings by day and hunting beetles, as well as small rodents, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Its semi-open grounds by night. Though they overlap voice is a harsh chuk or QUEE! kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk call. i Often heard yet seldom seen, owls are considered the nighttime along the Pecos River and western half of the Barred Owl -- This larger owl owns a very distinctive call that is equivalent of hawks, eagles, and falcons. With over 200 owl species existing Edwards Plateau, the Western species resides most characteristic of the owls, echoing through the eastern Texas worldwide, there are around 15 species which commonly inhabit Texas in the in the arid regions of the west while the Eastern deciduous forests saying, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you- summer, winter, or year-round. They can be found almost anywhere from Eastern Screech-Owl species occupies the rest of the state’s woodlands, by Suzy Beck all?” It has mottled, dark gray-brown plumage with horizontal barring areas of desert brush to the lush evergreens of high mountains. Like other parklands, agricultural areas, and suburbs. around the neck and upper breast, dark eyes, pale bill, and no ear members of Class Aves (birds), owls are warm-blooded, have beaks, wings The Western Screech- tufts. With its relatively weak talons, the Barred Owl will often choose Barred Owl by Kate Czapleski and light-weight bones, are covered in feathers, and reproduce by laying Owl is gray overall with yellow eyes, dark small prey, like mice, cotton rats, squirrels muskrats, and small birds. (Wikimedia) t eggs which hatch into owlets. bill, ear tufts, and dark vertical streaking. These carnivorous birds have been a symbol of superstition among many Its diet consists of insects, amphibians, small people because of their haunting appearance. For example, ancient tribes mammals and birds. The Eastern Screech- Other owls in Texas: of Africa and Native Americans viewed owls as very bad omens that when Owl can show red, brown, or gray color seen, supernatural evil was to soon come over a family member. The ancient Short-Eared Owl by Ronald morphs (forms), which is unique among Laubenstein, USFWS Aztecs and Mayans called owls “messengers of fright.” In more recent times, Texas’ owls. While the gray or reddish-brown Ferruginos Pygmy t however, owls have become an icon for wisdom. Owl cartoon characters morphs are more likely to be seen, it too has Owl by Glenn represent knowledge and learning, as with the U.S. Forest Service’s mascot yellow eyes, short ear tufts, pale gray bill, Proudfoot, USFWS “Woodsy Owl,” who once used the slogan, “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute.” and dark streaking. It eats small mammals, Still today, many around the world believe that these frightening birds are earthworms, fish, birds, and flying insects. a sign of ill health, bad luck, or death. The owl’s physical features, however, Western Screech-Owl The best way to identify the two is by are what make this animal such a supreme nighttime hunter. Like a comic by Rusty Ray their calls. The Western book ninja, owls possess the tools and traits to fly silently, stalk with stealth, Screech-Owl’s voice e hear from far distances, see in the dark, and quickly catch and kill prey. consists of a series of soft, quick and accelerating Elf Owl by Dominic Sherony Long-Eared Owl by Angus Owls are highly distinctive with a large, rounded head, short neck and tail, whistles, like that of a bouncing ball coming to (Wikimedia) Leonard (Wikimedia) upright posture, and ear tufts (short clusters of feathers) in some. Soft, specially- a stop. The Eastern Screech-Owl sounds like a fringed flight feathers muffle the sound of air turbulence as owls silently glide horse “whinny” that rises and falls. Sources: through the air. Acute hearing allows for easy tracking of the quiet squeaks Great Horned Owl -- With sharp hearing Arnold, Keith A. and Gregory Kennedy. Birds of Texas. Auburn, WA: Lone Pine Publishing, 2007. and rustles of prey beneath leaves or snow. Large, forward-facing eyes are and powerful vision, this large owl is superb at Burnie, David and Don E. Wilson. Animal. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc., 2001. able to gather all available light and judge distance. They are placed inside Kaufman, Kenn. Kaufman Focus Guides – Birds of North America. New York, NY: Hillstar Editions, L.C., 2000. r camouflaging and can swoop down on any Texas Parks and Wildlife, “Wildlife Fact Sheets.” http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species shielding facial disks of feathers and create excellent eyesight, day or night. prey that moves, like snakes, rodents, birds, U.S. Forest Service, “About the US Forest Service’s Insignia and Symbols.” http://www.fs.fed.us/lei/About%20Me%20 Sharp talons on flexible toes enable effortless perching, and with the help of amphibians, and fish. This tall owl has plumage Page.html Great Horned Owl Whitfield, Dr. Philip. The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Animals. Great Britain: Marshall Publishing, 1998. hooked beaks, owls can easily subdue and eat prey. by Wyman Meinzer Did you know...

…that what the Great Horned Owl lacks is a good sense of smell, making it a consistent predator of skunks? ...that Burrowing Owl babies, or owlets, will make a rasping rattlesnake-like warning from inside the burrow to ward off predators? …that the asymmetrical (uneven) positioning of some owls’ ear openings create a 3-dimensional hearing range that adds to their already powerful sense of hearing? …that an owl’s vision is 100 times that of a human?

…. the Western Screech-Owl is an adaptable hunter despite its small size and will often capture prey Barn Owl in flight larger than itself? by Russell Graves

Three Great Horned Owls in a nest by Wyman Meinzer Burrowing owl with prairie dog by Russell Graves Screech-Owl, by Rusty Ray

Color Me Tufts of feathers that look like ears (but are not)

Radiating Large yellow feathers eyes with Great Horned Owl round black Bubo virginianus around the eyes pupils Curved beak

White feathers on chest Thick brown/gray feathers

Sharp talons on toes

Great Horned Owl in flight by Russell Graves enchantedlearning.com 6 Texas Purple Sage Article and Photos By Rose Cooper

Jean Louis Berlandier, a French naturalist, came to Texas as a botanist to collect plants for the Mexican Boundary Commission in the 1820s. Imagine how he would feel if he knew that almost 170 years later, a plant that he was the first to discover would be given the official title of “State Native Shrub of Texas.” The 79th Legislature of the State of Texas did just that in the year 2005. Just as in the days of Mr. Berlandier, Texas purple sage can still be found growing in the South Texas Plains and the southern edges of West Texas and the Texas Hill Country. Is it going to Rain? An old saying is that if the Texas purple sage is in bloom, then it is going to rain. This gave rise to the name barometer bush. As you may know, a barometer can be used to determine the pressure changes in the atmosphere which Texas Tough can predict weather changes such as rain. However, Texas Not only can this evergreen shrub thrive in poor rocky soils, purple sage generally blooms shortly after it rains. It may it is also drought and heat tolerant. It can withstand high rain on Monday, triggering the plant to bloom and then winds and freezing temperatures, though it may lose some rain again on Thursday. This may have lead old timers to of its leaves. Texans have used this plant for decorating their believe that the plant was predicting the rain. Usually it landscapes as ornamental shrubs or hedges. When in bloom blooms during the spring and fall, but it can bloom year they are spectacular to see. They are also planted for wind round in some locations given the right temperatures. breaks and screens and planted in culverts and as hedges When in bloom, hundreds of flowers cover almost the entire along highways. Texas purple sage is resistant to most pests plant. The flowers are nearly campanulate, or bell-shaped. and diseases. However, when used in landscaping, it may Where the edge of the “bell” would normally be, there develop cotton root rot if it is over-watered and not planted are structures that look like individual flower petals. These in well-drained soil. For not being considered a very big structures are actually referred to as lobes, since they are shrub, Texas purple sage does many big things for wildlife. It connected at the base and are not individual petals at all. provides shade and shelter to small mammals and birds and The lobes are then grouped into “lips” with two lobes on is even a nesting place for songbirds, such as our state bird, the upper “lip” and three lobes on the bottom. The inside the mockingbird. It is also a host plant for the caterpillars of of the “bell” is called the throat and is slightly inflated. the Theona Checkerspot and the Calleta Silkmoth. When other The flowers have small hairs on the lobes and in the throat food sources are scarce, due to drought or winter conditions, giving them a soft appearance. They are usually purple to deer and cattle have violet in color, but white flowers do exist. even been known to browse Texas purple Cenizo sage. Since Texas purple Another name for Texas purple sage is Cenizo, which is sage is such a tough plant Spanish for “ash-like.” This name refers to the leaves, which with all of these great have thousands of tiny stellate or star-shaped hairs that characteristics, it is not make the leaves feel soft and fuzzy. There are so many hard to see why it was hairs that the leaves look silver or gray, which gives rise to a chosen as the official third name, Texas Silverleaf. When looking at a cross section native shrub of Texas. of the leaf, you will see a green strip of chlorophyll-filled plant cells in the middle and white hairs above and below the leaf. Texas Purple Sage is considered an evergreen, which means it will hold onto to its leaves through the winter instead of losing them in the fall. The genus name, Leucophyllum, also refers to the leaves. When broken down to the Latin root words, “leuc” means white and “phyll” means leaf. The species name, frutescens, comes from the Latin word fruticans which means shrubby. So, Leucophyllum Leaf cross section frutescens means shrubby plant with silver leaves. Now you know Latin! 7 Congratulations on a great show and thank you for your support! ...from all of us at the Texas Wildlife Association and TWA Foundation

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