Barred owl
1827-1838
John James Audubon captured this dramatic moment of a Barred Owl swooping down, its wings fully spread in a display of power and precision. Notice the terrified squirrel clinging to the wood, completely unaware of the predator until the last second! This plate comes from his legendary 'The Birds of America,' a massive book so large it was nicknamed the 'Double Elephant Folio' because regular paper wasn't big enough. Audubon often posed his birds in dynamic, almost violent scenes to make them look more alive than the stiff drawings of his time.
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