BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="birderbf" data-source="post: 1365415" data-attributes="member: 50237">Just to quickly eliminate these guys...Elf Owl tail: <a href="http://www.battistebedandbirds.com/AZ%20Birds%20Owl,%20Elf.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.battistebedandbirds.com/AZ Birds Owl, Elf.jpg</a>Western Screech-Owl tail: <a href="http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/IFWIS/ibt/userfiles/image/photos/800/western-screech-owl--michael-woodruff.jpg" target="_blank">http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/IFWIS/ibt/userfiles/image/photos/800/western-screech-owl--michael-woodruff.jpg</a>Northern Pygmy-Owl before anyone mentions it: <a href="http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/494/galleries/photos/BES_NPygmyOwl/image_preview" target="_blank">http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/494/galleries/photos/BES_NPygmyOwl/image_preview</a>Flammulated Owl: <a href="http://www.greglasley.net/Images/Flammulated-Owl-0010.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.greglasley.net/Images/Flammulated-Owl-0010.jpg</a>None of these tail patterns match (forget the unlikeliness of the last two!).OK I think we've covered 12 species of owls now. Keep in mind, the only part of the owl (the feet) are on the lens. Next some math.We have here a fisheye lens, so I will assume it is semispherical. The *diameter* of the lens is five inches, so using πr² we get 3.14(2.5)(2.5) = 19.625 inchesThe fish eye lens is only half of a sphere, so half of the circumference is ~9.8 inches. On my screen the orb appears to be 8 inches across, and the distance from the opposite talons are 6.5-7 inches. In that porportion, the talon spread could be as much as ~8.5 inches.I'm still in the Great Horned camp (but wow this is fun!!).</blockquote>

Verification