![]() Extending their talons as wide as possible, and rotating their flexible one, enables them to make a large circle around their prey. Owls have four talons, two facing forward, one facing backwards and one that can rotate, just as a human thumb might. ![]() Their sturdy legs are built to stabilize them as they forcefully hit the ground to catch prey. The powerful legs and talons of owls help them land, catch and kill their prey quickly. A study conducted by the University of Californiaĭetermined that owls that hunt at night, and particularly target mammals, are more likely to have feathers adapted to silent flight than owls that hunt during the day or target fish and insects. Even specialized microphones can’t pick up the sound of a barn owl in flight. The front of their wings have comb-like feathers and the back of their wings have fringed feathers that let air pass through quietly and absorb the remaining sound. Their wings are relatively large in comparison to their bodies which allows them to lift high into the air without excessively flapping their wings and then quietly glide toward their prey. Part of why owls can stay so quiet is because of their flight pattern. To do so, they need to be as quiet as possible. Once owls have heard and spotted their prey, they still need to ambush it to successfully catch their meal. All of this together means they can spot a mouse in dim light up to 100 yards away. They have 14 vertebrae in their neck, twice the number humans have, that allow them such extreme neck rotation. Luckily, owls can turn their head up to 270 degrees to look in any direction. So, in order to move their eyes to look left or right, they need to move their entire head. However, owls have tube-shaped eyes (as opposed to ball-shaped like most creatures) that don’t move side to side as easily. In saw-whet owls, you can actually see their eyes inside of their ear opening. Their eyes are so big that they can take up to 5% of their body weight. This is due to the size of their eyes and the relatively high number of rods and cones that allow them to adjust to different light levels while also being able to determine height and depth. Owls have the ability to see great distances in daylight and at night. Barn owls, which have the best hearing of their species, can catch prey in complete darkness. ![]() This triangulated hearing gives owls astounding accuracy when hunting, and are even able to target prey under snow from sound alone. In comparison, humans can detect if something is coming from left or right, but when the sound is far away, we have trouble telling if it’s above or below us. Because one ear is at different level on their head than the other they know if the sound comes from left or right and up or down. If you’ve ever cupped your hands behind your ears to hear better, you've mimicked this system, although not nearly as effectively as an owl! Many species of owls, including barn owls and great horned owls, also have asymmetrical ears which helps them triangulate sound. These feathers work like a satellite dish to collect information, directing soundwaves toward their ears. Top notch hearingĪll owls have a set of feathers known as “facial discs” that form their round faces. From their unique eyesight to powerful talons, owls are formidable hunters that are fascinating to watch in the wild. These mysterious birds are an important part of the ecosystem and have adapted to being top-level predators of mammals, small birds, reptiles and even other birds of prey. Several species of owls live in and migrate through the Chesapeake Bay watershed. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program) 1/2 A non-releasable great horned owl lives in an aviary at Tuckahoe State Park in Caroline County, Maryland.
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