Owl - ulchabhán | Scréachóg Reilge | An Cailleach Oiche

Owl - ulchabhán | Scréachóg Reilge (Barn Owl - graveyard screecher) | An Cailleach Oiche (kennings for owl | the night witch).
.
I recently re-watched ‘Song of the Sea’ which features ‘The Owl Witch’ in it. It definitely inspired me to re-do this ulchabhán. Such a mesmerizing Irish animation if you haven’t seen it check it out, there’s selkies and sidhe and magic and music what more could one want! 💕💃
.
I found two interesting collected folk tales on Duchas.ie about why the ulchabhán only comes out at night.
.
In one story all the birds were trying to drown a wren (🤔 I couldn't find the context as to why they wanted to do this but..) all the birds were crying in turn into a basin filling it up with their tears. When the owl perched on the side of the basin to cry into it, it split all the tears out. All the other birds were angry and said if they saw an owl during the day they'd peck them!

link
.
The 2nd story also features a wren. In this story a poor wren lost all her feathers and was asking each bird to give her some. The owls refused saying they would be too cold in winter and so were punished to only come out at night. If they came out during the day the other birds would peck them.

link
.
Now in reality we know the owls hunt at night because they are an apex predator that, if given a daytime advantage, would probably decimate entire ecosystems 😅🦉 #owlsareawesome
.
Barn owls shriek rather than hoot which is where they get their Irish name Scréachóg Reilge (graveyard screecher). Many people link this beautiful bird to the tales about the Banshee as well.
Barn owl numbers have been declining in Ireland due to habitat loss and their food source being poisoned. It is estimated there are between 500 and 700 mated pairs left across Ireland. BirdWatchIreland.ie has more information and ways to support their efforts to protect Birds across Ireland 🦉🦅🐦🦢🕊💕