Veronica Park - Sanguinary Owl

$1,400.00

Veronica Park - Sanguinary Owl
Mixed Media: Watercolour, gouache, digital, 18” x 24”
$1400
Sanguinary Owl (Strix Sanguinarius)
Size: 40 – 44 inches
Weight: 13 – 20 lbs
Wingspan: 84 – 88 inches
 
Found throughout the deserts and mesas of Arizona and New Mexico, the Sanguinary Owl is a rare species of Strix identifiable by its haunting, sorrowful cry and piercing blue eyes. Rivalling the largest raptors in size and weight, it is a powerful hunter and a master of stealth.
 
Sanguinary Owls are highly prized as witches’ familiars due to their rarity and intelligence, and for their plumage; the blood-stained feathers of the breast and facial disk are particularly potent ingredients for hexes and love potions.
 
Diet: Fresh blood, preferably that of large mammals such as cattle, coyotes, even humans.
 
Feeding Behaviour: Primarily hunts at night, stalking prey from a low perch or ledge. It is an incredibly stealthy hunter, seamlessly camouflaging into its surroundings while silently shadowing its prey. It utilizes its great size and weight to tackle its quarry to the ground. It may also “hypnotize” prey into compliance using its piercing blue gaze.
 
Reproduction: Largely unknown. It is theorized that like old-world Striges, Sanguinary Owls propagate by metamorphosis. Spiritual healers or witches enticed by dark magic may suffer a physical transformation if they commit an abhorrent act, and at least one hypothesis suggests that the Sanguinary Owl could be the result of such a transformation.