270°

by Maggie Umber

Informative, colorful mixed-media work that bridges nature science and fine art -- quintessential comics with an ornithological bend. An artist's field guide on owls and owl behavior. Maggie Umber once again takes readers into nature, showing the beauty and sophistication of animals in their natural habitats. 270° is an educational glimpse of owls found in North America and beyond

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction

136 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2018

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slap the words "graphic novel" somewhere on the cover, and you can get me to read the weirdest shit.

This is a fact book about owls decorated with pictures that range from beautiful to ugly to what the hell is that???? (Audubon it ain't.) The words can be difficult to read at times, but once deciphered they will gift you with some nifty tidbits of knowledge.

I'm just not sure I'd call it a graphic novel though...

[Jeanne Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I love this comic. It's so beautiful...so many beautiful portraits of different kinds of owls and so full of interesting facts about owls. But most of all, the book just draws you in. There is a page just of a painting of birch trees and I find myself staring at it every time I pick up the book. I think a part of me believes that if stare I long enough, an owl will fly from the center of that birch forest. It's a very enchanting comic.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a graphic-novel artist type book - that can be read in a few minutes; however, it conveys a lot of surprising information about owls, so I learned much about these interesting birds by reading this book: Owls actually have long necks under their thick layer of feathers, which is why they can seemingly turn their heads almost completely around (270 degrees) and seem to also to turn their heads upside-down. They have evolved "enormous" forward-facing eyes relative to their small skull size so in order to look sideways or get another angle on a view, they must turn their heads because they cannot move their eyes. The feathers on their faces create a dish effect ("facial discs") to funnel even the faintest sounds to their ears - owl hearing is so acute they can hear prey such as a rodent scurrying along under snow and then swoop down to silently capture it "beneath large amounts of snow" "without ever having seen it." The configuration of their large claws and talons (two forward-facing and two backward-facing on each foot) creates "the largest net area for catching prey." The male owl, which is smaller than the female, hunts for the family as the female incubates the eggs and then when they hatch protects the baby owls (owlets); unfortunately, if there is no food available, the older/stronger owlets may eat their "youngest and smallest" siblings. As barbaric as this cannibalism sounds, the author notes that this is the way of nature because it may result in at least some owlets surviving rather than all of them perishing. Elsewhere the author says that adult owls may also unfortunately hunt other owls because doing so not only provides a meal but also cuts down on competition "for food and territory." The author notes that many owls "are more active at night" because daytime birds especially crows "mob them." Unfortunately, "crows and other birds are food for owls. By driving them out of their territory in the day they may avoid being taken in the night."

I thought the author-artist's pen-and-ink drawings/watercolors/woodcuts were extremely evocative -- Ms. Umber also effectively uses wood grain texture within the art, referencing back to the life/survival technique of owls, who stretch themselves out and use "their dull coloring" and variegated feathers to camouflage themselves as tree bark, while also using holes or abandoned nests in trees as nests (owls do not build nests, according to the book). The color scheme of the book is permeated with an overall eerie quality or spookiness to match the elusiveness, night-time mysterious ways of owls; perfect timing as I happened to read it a few days before Halloween!

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in birds in general and/or owls in particular since it effectively explains via words, drawings, water-colors, and woodcuts, much about owls, the "invisible" night-time avian hunters that, mostly unbeknownst to us, silently (except for their hooting, which they use to communicate with the mate and owlets) exist all around us.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I talked with Maggie Umber again at CAKE here in Chicago (8/24). Maggie likes owls. She knows owls. And I had read her wordless graphic non-fiction study of owls, Le bruit de la neige qui tombe and loved it. This Would call art comics, not an illstrated guide to the orintological study of wowls of North America, so it's nto science, it's an artist's renditio of various owls in their habitats, drawn with and painted with more feeling than close attention to deatial. Howver, in the process you do learn a lot about owls!

*A group of owls is called a parliament.

*Hooting is a form of communication with family, potential mates, predators

*Great grey owls have the largest facial discs of any raptor, which are used for funneling the sound of rodents, even those under deep snow, to their ears. They can grab for rodents without even seeing them.

*The largest owl in the world is the Blakiston's Fish Owl

*Why are owls more active at night? Because diurnal birds like crows "mob" them.

And so much more! A good way she suggests for studying owls is to view them on an owl cam! I have off and on watched peregrine falcons on my university's falcon cam, and it is pretty interesting!

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

More art book, than science. I am sure for its kind it is very good. I am glad there is a market for this and that people enjoy this format. I was looking for a rigorously researched book about owls.

[ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

getting my sister this

[Anders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cool art. Great owl facts!