The Owls exhibition delves into the mysterious world of nocturnal birds of prey. Their sight and hearing are several times superior to those of cats, their flight is silent, and their head turns 270°! This is the first time such a variety of owls, from the extinct Giant Running Owl to the smallest owl in Europe, is on display at one venue. Owls in sculpture, painting, drawing and on the pages of ancient books allow you to trace how people's attitude towards these mysterious birds has changed over the centuries. Intellectual contest, board games and creative workshop will help to join the world of owls, even those who have not yet learned to read.
The giant running owl Ornimegalonix is probably the largest species of owl that has ever lived on Earth. It lived in Cuba during the Pleistocene. . Giant owls were over a meter tall and weighed about 9 kilograms. They hunted large rodents and ground sloths, had well-developed legs, but could not fly at all. For the first time, the museum exhibits casts of Ornimegalonyx bones found in Cuba, from the collection of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Modern owls cannot boast large size. The largest owl, an eagle owl, reaches a height of 75 cm and weighs about 4 kg, and the smallest is the size of a budgerigar. However, the "modest" size is more than compensated by amazing abilities: silent flight, sharp, curved claws and beak, effective camouflage, ability to turn the head up to 270 degrees, extremely sensitive vision and acute hearing. The exhibition will tell why owls need feather tassels and three pairs of eyelids, how you can tell the color of an owl's iris why its daily activity, why its ears are arranged asymmetrically, and how the facial disc helps it to catch sounds. The section "Family Life of Owls" is dedicated to owl parents and their adorable fluffy chicks. In the interactive area, visitors will try on the wingspan of different owls and listen to owl voices.
The human attitude to owls has always been special. The owl was considered the bird of death in ancient Egypt, India, Central and North America, China and Japan. In ancient Greece, the owl was the personification of Athena - the goddess of wisdom, military strategy and tactics. But in the Renaissance genius Hieronymus Bosch, owls often represent spiritual blindness, ruthlessness and guile. A section of the exhibition titled "Owls in Culture" will talk about mythological and literary owls and introduce ancient and contemporary works of art inspired by these mysterious birds.
Exhibited for the first time are life-size sheets depicting owls from J. J. Audubon's "Birds of America" album. This unique publication is recognized as a book-length masterpiece and a great bibliographic rarity. Another book rarity is the illustration "Laughing Owl" from J. W. Rowley's collection of birds. This species of owl, endemic to New Zealand, was discovered in 1845, and 70 years later it became extinct as a victim of stoats and domestic cats introduced to the islands. A drawing made in the 1870s by the famous "bird artist" J. Kölemans, reminds us of the sad consequences of human intervention in nature.
The exhibition is beautifully complemented by photographs of owls, taken by professional wildlife photographer Igor Bartashov.