Superspecies of the Owls: teacher key

Eurasian Eagle-Owls, grade 8 edition, written for 8th grade. The Eurasian eagle-owl belongs to a superspecies with the Great Horned Owl and three other eagle-owls. It is hard to study, but owl pellets help scientists learn what it eats.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. With which owl does the Eurasian eagle-owl form a superspecies, along with others?
   • The Great Horned Owl (answer)
   • The barn owl
   • The snowy owl
2. What does the zoo fact sheet say about the estimated global range, as of July 2017?
   • About 10 square kilometers
   • About 1,000 square kilometers
   • Over 10 million square kilometers (answer)
3. How can eagle-owls judge an intruding owl?
   • By how intense its call is (answer)
   • By its color
   • By its weight on a scale
4. Why are eagle-owls difficult to study?
   • They are elusive (answer)
   • They live in cities only
   • They never sleep
5. The text says habitat choice depends mainly on prey. What does that suggest about where eagle-owls do well?
   • Where enough prey lives (answer)
   • Where it is always warm
   • Where there are no cliffs
6. At what age are eagle-owl young independent, according to a zoo raptor group?
   • 150 to 160 days (answer)
   • 15 to 16 days
   • 150 to 160 weeks

Words

• superspecies: related species group
• elusive: hard to find
• territory: an animal's area
• resonant: deep and full