January 17, 2026: All About Owls
On the morning of Saturday, January 17, I taught a class All About Owls at the Ayurvedic Wellness Center. Upon arrival, participants filled up their mugs with hot chai, and picked up a field guide to use for the class. There was a great turnout, and it felt great for me to share on my knowledge about owls!
We began class with an opportunity to arrive and settle in via the breath. I find that this helps me be more present, and can ready the mind to receive information. Once settled, I read Owl Medicine to the class from my Animal Medicine Cards deck. This reading contained teachings of Owl Medicine from Native American elders. The words washed over us, and provided some spiritual context for the class.
The context of the class; owl wisdom + owl guide.
“Owl...
Magic,
Omens,
Time and Space.
Does the truth emerge?
Casting out deception,
Silent flight,
Sacred Medicine Bird.”
After contemplating the Owl (also called Night Eagle on several medicine wheels used by Amerindian teachers), we dove right in! What exactly makes an owl, an owl? To explore this question, we learned about the taxonomy of owls, food and foraging habits, breeding habits, and movements.
For example, did you know that there are 164 species of Typical Owls in the world, and only 18 of those species in the United States? Did you also know that Snowy Owls can pinpoint prey in up to 12 inches of snow, by sound only? Content was delivered in a fun, interactive way; I shared stories from personal experiences, had fun answering great questions from participants, and even quizzed those in attendance about owl feathers. I passed around four different feathers and asked participants to identify which feather was from an owl, and why. To my delight, just about everybody guess correctly!
Seth teaching about the Great Horned Owl.
Great Horned Owl in Kleinstuck Preserve. May 2, 2021.
Once we had a better idea of what an owl actually is, we moved on to the case studies of owls that we are most likely to encounter in Michigan. These owls included the Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Short-eared Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, Norther Saw-when Owl, Snowy Owl, and Long-eared Owl. Specimens known as round skins were used so that participants could get close-up looks at these owls.
I used these round skins as teaching aids, asking participants to tell me what they notice about these birds. We made observations based on the four keys to identification: size and shape, color and pattern, behavior, and habitat. Folks remarked on how intricate the plumage is (especially for the Great Horned Owl), and were quite surprised at the size difference between species.
Seth displaying a Long-eared Owl round skin.
We wrapped up class talking a little bit about eBird, the tools and resources I use to find these owls, and where exactly folks could go in Kalamazoo to have the best chance of seeing these unique owls.
Finishing class with gratitude and joy.
Thank you to everybody in attendance! Now, let’s go owling!
