Great horned owl
Great horned owl (© Mark Newman/Getty Images)
Hoots and haunts
The Halloween season is upon us, so let's meet one of the holiday's icons: the great horned owl. With its keen vision, eerie vocalisations and silent flight, this owl has historically been revered and feared. In folklore and mythology, owls were considered symbols of wisdom and omens of death. On Samhain, the Celtic precursor to Halloween, the owl was believed to be the kin of roaming spirits.
© Mark Newman/Getty Images