Owls are among the most mysterious and charismatic birds in the world. Well known for their nocturnal nature, usage in pop culture, and haunting vocalizations, everybody is aware of owls, but there is so much more to them than meets the eye. Here are 5 things you may not know about Owls.
1. They Don’t Actually Have “Eyeballs”
There are so many absolutely wild things about the biology of Owls. One of the most shocking to me at least is that owls don’t actually have eyeballs. At least not as we think of them. For most animals including humans, the spherical shaped eyes allow for the eye to move within the socket and thus see a wide field of view even without moving the head. Owls’ eyes are not spherical but rather cylindrical or tube shaped. Not only that but they are rigidly held in place, meaning owls can’t move their eyes like other animals can, but instead rely on moving their head to change their field of view. In fact, Owls can turn their head up to 270 degrees. While it isn’t the 360 degrees that myths about owls portray it to be, It’s very impressive, nonetheless.
2. Owls Can Hunt by Sound Alone
While owls eyes are unique, their hearing is something else entirely. Unlike most animals with symmetrical ears, owls have asymmetrical ears that better collect sound. In addition to that, their large facial disks funnel sound into their ears, working like a satellite dish.This adaptation allows them to hear prey items in complete darkness. It even helps them hear small animals moving underneath the snow. If you ever see wings patterns in the snow, it’s likely you’re looking at a place where an owl plunged into the snow to try and catch a small mammal.
3. Not All Owls “Hoot”
The typical sound associated with owls is the “hoot.” And to be fair, there are owls that make a hooting noise. Most notably the very common Great-horned Owl which many people encounter if they live near even a somewhat wooded area. That being said, Owls make some incredibly varied noises. For example, Barred Owls make the classic who cooks for you noise that can be heard throughout swamps and deciduous forests. Barn Owls make a blood curdling scream, and burrowing owls make chattering noises and even make a rattling noise that is believed to imitate a rattlesnake when they feel threatened. To name a few more, Saw whet owls make a slow toot toot noise while Short-eared Owls sound like they’re barking. With all of this variety, if you hear a strange noise coming from the woods, it just might be an owl. If you’re interested in learning about different noises owls make, we have a video for you that I’ll put in the description.
4. They Aren’t All Nocturnal
People tend to think about owls as nocturnal animals and while that is certainly the case for most species, there are a fair amount that aren’t nocturnal or at least aren’t entirely nocturnal. The reason for this is that like all other types of birds, owls are extremely variable in their habits, hunting style, and niche in the environment. Let’s explore a few owls that aren’t entirely nocturnal. First, one of the most well known owls (thanks in large part to harry potter) the Snowy Owl. Snowy Owls breed in the high arctic where its sometimes light for just about every hour of the day. This means they are very used to operating during the daylight hours. Even when in the lower 48 states, Snowy Owls are active during the daytime and can be seen hunting while it’s light out. Other northern owl species like Great- Gray Owls and Northern Hawk Owls also actively hunt during the day with Hawk Owls being one of the most diurnal North American Owl species and Great Grays often being crepuscular which means most active at dawn and dusk. The bottom line is don’t be surprised if you see one of these typically nocturnal predators active during the day.
5. Their Feathers Are Built for Stealth
If you’ve ever seen an owl fly before you may have noticed something, or rather an absence of something. That something is sound. When other birds flap their wings, the sound of the air rushing over the feathers can cause quite a loud noise, but this isn’t the case with owls which are nearly silent flyers. They need to be quiet in flight not only to sneak up on prey, but because so much of their hunting is done by sound and if their own wings were too loud, they couldn’t pin point prey items. Owls are able to move around so quietly because their feathers have structures such as fringes on the edges that break up air turbulence and soften noise. There’s more to it than just that but that could be an entire video entirely.
Owls are truly amazing animals that are both mysterious and captivating. And I hope you learned a few things you didn’t already know about them. If you liked this video take a look at one of our other owl videos or other videos about bird facts. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you next time on Badgerland Birding.