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This episode is published and ready to hear wherever you get podcasts. Let's talk about it!

Owls owls owls owls owls. Are they the best birds? Depends on who you ask. (Yes.) Please gaze into a tree and listen to the dulcet sounds of one Dr. R.J. "Rocky" Gutiérrez talking about his field work adventures, why he headed out West, owl eyes, beak clacks, face feathers, hoots, roosts, nests, parenting advice from owls and so much more.

AND: of course it's a 2-parter. There's so much to learn. Next week we'll talk about their frog legs, folklore, owls in the news and a whole host of your questions, Patrons.

Have you listened yet? Let's talk about it! Or tell me about an owl you saw. I'm all un-even ears. (That will make sense after you listen.)

Boy hooty,

Father of Pod Alison Ward

Files

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 1 with Dr. R.J. Gutiérrez - alie ward

OWLS. FINALLY. In no particular order: what's up with their eyes, legs, hoots, feathers, silent flight, nests, folklore, necks, barfs, conservation status, and omens? Go take a walk or sit on a porch in the dusk and make friends with Rocky. Dr. R.J. "Rocky" Gutiérrez is a celebrated researcher, Prof

Comments

Colby Evans

Was hoping this was the week! Can't wait

Wendy Fick

OMG owls are definitely the best!! I love this!! Thank you Alie!! ❤️❤️❤️

Alie Ward

Okay THANK you Wendy; I concur.

Jade Greene

Eep eep! I was just about to check on this and got the email. Gonna go listen now!

JC

I AM SO EXCITED!! Literally was looking forward to this all week, and the fact that this is a 2 parter??? Sign me up!!

sunday

Ahhh i listened this morning. I am obsessed with owls they are so beautiful to me!! I definitely needed this. So cool learning about their roles as mates and their anatomy. Can’t wait for next week’s episode

chloe slater

Love this episode! brings me back to my brief childhood obsession with owls❤️❤️

Naomi Jane

Alie this is your warning to eject your dongle! I wiped a whole SD card of photos from an event once & learnt my lesson 🥲

Alie Ward

Part 2 is also soooo good. Do you LOVE Rocky?

sunday

his owl sweaters 😭🥺 Im just imagining a full collection its soo sweet

Peregrine

Really enjoyed listening!! I’m a biology student who loves birds and I recently got to check out a northern saw-whet owl banding operation (look them up, they’re so small!!) It was really cool to see the mist net and camera set-up and hold a hatch year owl! The little guys were feisty and clacking their beaks at us! Apparently they migrate without following a specific pattern, which I think is very interesting! Anyway, thanks Alie and Rocky!! Looking forward to part 2

Peregrine

Oh and I’m a knitter too! I was excited to hear the about owl sweaters!! I would totally buy an owl sweater pattern if KT (sp?) ever sells them!

Miranda Garniss

Yes hello I need to know more about the homicide case asap please

Melissa DeWoskin

International Owl Center is fantastic! They have a cool yearly art competition for kids.

Megan M

Incredible sweater and episode, excited for part 2! Quick clarification: is it stragiformology (as in the title) or stragiformiology? It sounded like you mentioned "another stragiformiologist", and the ologist referred to them as stragiformies (sp?) so just curious about the precise term!

Corinna Bruce

I just received 10 bags of barn owl pellets to sift through for my honors project so this episode came at the right time!

Rylan Connors

So goooooodd! Pumped for part two too!! HA!

Felipe Jimenez

Loved it !! Although missed opportunity with the audio edits to put the “crepuscular” song (in the rythm of Popular from Wicked). You might have seen it on TikTok

Arella Zarina

Alie, I'm in Prague with my class and was listening to this on the way to their super majestic castle and it helped me survive the 3rd day with these people, and the best part was yet to come, because in one of the museums there was a booth selling pocket watches (a childhood obsession of mine) and I was wondering whether or not to invest in one, when I noticed one had the design of an owl on it!! I'll have to search up what kind of owl, but that sold it for me, and I now have a beautiful owl pocket watch in my pocket (duh) to remind me of this episode and how FRIGIN AMAZING OWLS ARE! Thanks so much Rocky, you're so so SO cool, and Alie, as always, the best pod dad in the universe!!!

Ketra Toda

My granddaughter sent me this text: Nana, you know how you told us like it's so cool to talk to an owl? We talk to one to in the middle of a conversation we hooed to them and they hooed back.🦉 How controversial will this be? We have great horned owls, western screech owls, and barn owls locally, thanks to a neighbor whose inadequately-stored backyard chicken feed draws rodents.

Ren

I listened to this ep in the car on my way to the saw whet owl banding station!!

Susan G

I love owls! And I love hearing about how they catch them by their leggies but then calm them by giving them little scritches. Can't wait for next week. Also I have pulled many a thing out of my laptop without technically doing the 'eject' step and so far so good. We live on the edge!

JillyDoogs

I emailed, but got no answer. Is there a list of all the past Ologists and the books they have written? ❤️❤️

Jessica Verkruisen

My dad sees owls more than any person I have ever known and they always make me think of him, hope we hear about owl Symbolism and significance.

Nick Ryder

Unrelated question, is there a designated place to suggest future ologies?

Spencer Holtaway

I’ve been hearing owls recently from my bedroom AND my local Nextdoor had a post about the endangered owl / logger ***drama*** today. Timely!Amazing episode, what a lovely guest, too!

Britt Andrews

I laughed out loud in my car when he was like "and you just kinda grab em"

Britt Andrews

It's almost certainly going to be the Michael Peterson case that the documentary The Staircase is about. His defence case was the idea that an owl had flown into the house, attacked his wife, causing the lacerations on her head, and she had fallen down the stairs and died. And he was outside by the pool and didn't see any of it

AngelaO

That sweater is amazing!

Alie Ward

We do talk about this in Part 2, which is up now!

Alie Ward

We talk about owl migration in Part 2, which is up now!

JillyDoogs

Ahhhh thank you so much!!! How wonderful!! Btw loving the Owl episodes. 🦉 ❤️❤️

Alie Ward

We do discuss this in Part 2, and how that hypothesis arose and the evidence in support of it. Tiddy Smith wrote a book supporting this possibility

Alie Ward

Have been able to go in person? We did a Field Trip episode at the raptor center in Boise a few years back!

Alie Ward

NIIIICE. Who collects them from you? Do you have to bake them to kill maggots?

Alie Ward

Oh thats so so wonderful!! I love pocketwatches. And castles. And probably Prague but I haven’t had a chance to go. So glad y’all liked it and I hope you enjoy part 2!

Melissa DeWoskin

Yes! It's not very big, but it's adorable and full of information. The volunteers and employees are awesome. I understand they've renovated and built better aviaries so I need to go back!

Alie Ward

In part 2 he talks about “getting nailed” by talons as part of the job and he’s so nonchalant! Hope you liked the follow up ep!

Alie Ward

We do go into that but maybe like Rocky he has amazing eyesight!

Alie Ward

Hit me with a suggestion right here!

Alie Ward

No way! Do you like in the Pacific Northwest?

Alie Ward

Right?? And KT makes one every year!

Felipe Jimenez

I tagged you and ologies in the Instagram post.

Spencer Holtaway

I live 20 miles north of San Francisco. Nextdoor here is a mix of parking drama and nature drama 😆

Spencer Holtaway

I was just in my local coffee shop when a thousand popular looking high school girls came in. I thought about “a Parliament of Owls” from part 2 and would like to pitch “a judgment of high school girls” to the world. 🤔

Sarah Vanderkleed

This dude....so so lovely! His love for Owls, and critters in general, is palpable. And holy crap!!! Owls are even groovier than I thought, which was already quite groovy!!! We have tons of Barred Owls around us who we love to hear calling to each other! Sometimes they sound a mile apart as they gossip to each other and sometimes we wonder why they're even bothering with the "Hey! I'm over here and down to clown!" because they sound like they're in trees right next to each other! We love them! We've gotten pretty good at their calls and they even hoot back at us now!! Also, this dude's wife has some CRAZY knitting skills!!!! That sweater is amazing!!! Owlmazing?!?

Andrew McVay

Just finished part 2! The barred owl info 🤯 new to me! Rocky was a great guest 👍 answering great questions 👍

Rachel Guthrie

Great episodes! To learn more about the spotted owls in Oregon and the history/politics of it, listen to the podcast “Timber Wars”

Nick Ryder

Sweet, thanks! Worms and vermicompost, textiles (Jillian Eve on youtube might be a good resource if it’s science-y enough to count as an Ology), and the vagal nerve (why does it connect to Everything, why does it misbehave, can someone maybe remove mine somehow?)

Mads

I want Rocky to be my grandad

James Nance

I will second the recommendation to watch Reservation Dogs. So good! Thank you for another fantastic 2-parter!

zosia

Generally I am sooo not a morning person, and I struggle with getting up, but Ologies in the company of some good coffee is the only thing that gets me through that. Since Ologies became part of my morning routine, I have something to look forward to after getting up every day, and I’m excited to discover what I can learn in the next episode. Thank you for all the great work! Just one thing I would like to ask, would it be possible to add a sort of vocal footnote to all the weight, length etc. measurements in the metric system. As somebody coming from Poland, it is difficult to picture how much one pound or inch is… Thank you!

Elisabeth Westner

I can't believe Alie was giving a talk at my alma mater and I didn't know about it ahead of time so I could go! I live almost 2 hrs away but I absolutely would have made the trek to see Alie!

Elisabeth Westner

I shared the photo with one of my knitting FB groups, which is more relevant than you might think because it's a group of Smith College alums!

Hope J 🏳️‍🌈

I’m coming here a bit late, but as a birder I absolutely loved this episode! I wanted to shout out Rocky for talking about the dangers of playback in birding (aka playing the sound of a bird during breeding season). It can be very dangerous and harmful and he mentioned, and, also, if you ever encounter a breeding pair of owls, please don’t let the world know because if there are too many people around, it can attract predators or spook the parents. I was lucky enough to see a Great Horned Owl mama on her nest during nesting season in 2024, but we were sworn to secrecy because they didn’t want flocks of people disturbing the pair.

Nevena Georgieva

My favorite part was when you said that you wanna marry her. Me too, Alie. What a gem of a woman.

Fiona Dolphin

Late to this thread but I just had to share that my boyfriend and I had to pause part 2 to have an hour long debate about the ethics of barred owls getting shot to save spotted owls and this debate ended with us deciding the song “Stronger” by Kanye West should be the theme song for the barred owls fucking up the spotteds. And yes, we did dance around our living room while pretending to be owls🦉 😂

erin farley

Late commenting, but loved this episode and thanks for talking about rodent poison! I really wanted Rocky to talk about Powerful Owls too - so many cool owls, I get why he couldn't describe all of them.

Sunflower star

I saw my first barred owl a couple days after hearing the first episode, and got to share some fun facts with the crew I was working with! Apparently this owl had been seen on the ground looking bewildered, Fish and Wildlife thought it had eaten a poisoned rat and couldn't be cured, but we saw it a week later in a tree looking alert and curious, so hopefully he has been revived. I also know a number of people who have had their hats pulled off by owls, so I guess if it's territorial and meant as an attack, it's good they were wearing hats(!)

Alli B

Hellooo Alie! Just wanted to let you know there is a wee “ass” in the Nov 6 Smologiez about seals and walruses (around 14:00 give or take). My ass doesn’t give a rip, but in case you missed it and want to take it out before a 4th grade science class loses their shit when they hear it right before recess. 😆 We love the episode! Many hugs and pinniped cuddles to you!

Bonnie M Rutherford

I love that show. I live on the reservation in Washington State and we love the barred owls. I believe that the decision has been made to not allow fish and wildlife people to kill any barred owls within the boundaries of the Rez. One of my neighbors with the bizarre sense of humor suggested it that if it's okay to kill "invading" owls then to humans living on stolen land.

Elizabeth 🌞

Sharing this article on barred owls in the Western US that I found in Birds & Blooms. It's too bad they are becoming a detriment in the West. I live in Southeastern Massachusetts where they are native and I just love them. Very unfortunate for our barred and spotted owl friends alike. Alas. Thanks for the episode. Just adding to the chat: https://www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/bird-species/birds-of-prey/barred-owl/?_cmp=BNBInsider&utm_audience=&_mid=820229&ehid=58055aa93ea38bb7799905ffc60f25c35dbfa8bd&_PermHash=fb65040cee4e651faadd950953fd5bc3a7d6e2690ec8d930e1119e4c6ccabd3c&tohMagStatus=NONE