Great horned owl Oct. 29, 2024

The Halloween season is upon us, so let"s meet one of the holiday"s icons: the great horned owl. With its keen vision, eerie vocalisations and silent flight, this owl has historically been revered and feared. In folklore and mythology, owls were considered symbols of wisdom and omens of death. On Samhain, the Celtic precursor to Halloween, the owl was believed to be the kin of roaming spirits.

© Mark Newman/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

One of the oldest parks in Quebec
Oct. 29, 2023Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, USA
Oct. 29, 2025Ancient til trees in Fanal Forest, Madeira, Portugal

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Feb. 21, 2025Champaka Sarasi, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India
May 19, 2024Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy
Feb. 17, 2026Chinese New Year
‘A sustainable and peaceful common future’
Oct. 30, 2024Edinburgh Castle, Scotland, United Kingdom
Dec. 5, 2023Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles, Bavaria, Germany
Apr. 20, 2025Happy Easter!
Let there be lights!
Mar. 7, 2026The Brocken, Harz National Park, Germany
Dec. 15, 2025Spiegelgracht canal in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 27, 2025Thick-billed raven, Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
Nov. 6, 2025Celebrating Yi Peng
Jan. 26, 2025European beech forest, Belgium
Apr. 10, 2025Siblings Day
A day for the worlds Indigenous populations
Feb. 20, 2026Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park, California, United States
When just a pinch of salt won’t do
Nov. 8, 2025Bandon Beach in Bandon, Oregon, United States
Jul. 31, 2024Hoodoos, Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA
Is it green with envy?
Mar. 5, 2025Khao Sok National Park in Thailand
Jan. 22, 2026Karlovy Vary, Bohemia, Czechia
40 years of recovery
The envy of postcards and snow globes
Dec. 11, 2025International Mountain Day
Dec. 1, 2025Antarctica Day
Apr. 5, 2026Easter Sunday
Jan. 19, 2024Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
Sep. 11, 2025Monfragüe National Park, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
Jan. 4, 2025Bản Giốc – Detian Falls, Vietnam