Jeremiah Loei’s Oriental Scops-owl grey morph (Otus sunia) fluttering adds on to his earlier video of Buffy Fish-owl (Ketupa ketupu) cooling itself HERE.
Another video of the Spotted Wood-owl (Strix seloputo) fluttering by Lena Chow can be seen HERE.
The gular skin is an area of featherless skin around the bird’s throat that forms a pouch. This is most prominent in the Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) where it is used to store fish during hunting (above). In the male frigatebird (Fregata sp.), the brightly coloured gular pouch is inflated in courtship to attract the female (below).
Among owls the gular pouch is less prominent. Fluttering of this pouch helps to increase heat loss when the weather is hot. After all, birds do not have sweat glands.
Jeremiah Loei & YC Wee
Singapore
17th January 2017
Note: Video and image of Oriental Scops-owl by Jeremiah Loei; pelican and frigatebird by YC Wee.
This post is a cooperative effort between Birds, Insects N Creatures Of Asia and BESG to bring the study of birds and their behavior through photography and videography to a wider audience.