is-the-owl-vid-cute:

is-the-owl-vid-cute:

• Owls can rotate their fourth digit on both feet to have three toes in front or two toes in front at will. This is a trait also shared by the Osprey despite these birds being pretty far apart genetically. It is not fully understood why owls developed this at all.

• Owls are some of the only birds with front-facing eyes, which is a design that likely has less to do with their sight needs and more to do with perfecting their facial disc.
• They have twice as many vertebrae in their neck as humans do, and blood vessels running through tunnels in the bones to ensure the brain has a constant supply of oxygen regardless of how much the neck turns. This is why they can rotate their head around 270° on almost any axis.
• Barn owls have better hearing and quieter flight than true owls, even the most sensitive recording technology struggles to record the beating of a barn owl’s wings.
• Owls have a muscle attached to every individual feather on their body, which allows them to perform more complex threat and camouflage stances. This trait is seen in most flying birds to some degree, but owls and members of the nightjar family put it to greatest use.
• Owls, especially true owls, have eyes that take up most of their skull, which is often attributed to why they cannot rotate their eyes, but the real reason their eyes cannot move is that the eyes are bell-shaped rather than round, which does not lend itself to rotation even if space existed for muscles to move the eyes. (Barn owl vs. true owl skull replicas below)

• The back of an owl’s eye can be seen inside the ear canal, which is often how rehabbers check for damage in the absence of someone skilled enough to read an ophthalmoscope. Only a semi-transparent membrane and feathers to hide the ear protect it, making it a useful anatomical feature during an intake exam.

• Owls clack their beaks at potential threats to warn them away, larger owl species can clack loudly enough to be heard a mile away.
• There are several diurnal owl species despite their reputation as the nocturnal raptors, burrowing owls and hawk owls are just a few examples. Despite being daytime hunters, the eyes of these species still lend themselves well to seeing in low light spaces as a leftover trait from their nocturnal ancestors.
• Burrowing owls will mimic rattlesnakes when threatened, in the hopes a larger predator will leave the burrow thinking a venomous snake is inside.
• A group of owls is known as a parliament, but most species are solitary outside the few species that partake in longer migration. Burrowing owls are some of the only owls remaining communal throughout the year.

• Great horned owlets and a few similar species have very small claws at the tips of their featherless wings. These are believed to be helpful in climbing should they fall from the nest.

• Owls have asymmetrical ear placement to triangulate altitude of targets more easily.
• Owl feathers fluoresce under a black light if they’re still new, this technique is used by banders to age them.

• Great horned owls have talons the size of bobcat claws. Most screech owls have talons the size of housecat claws.
• Barn owls have scales on their feet, but most true owls only have scales on the last joint to the talon with feathers covering the rest of the toes. There are exceptions to this in regard to some true owls having unfeathered feet or legs, but all barn owls have feathered legs and scaled feet.

• Barn owls cannot hoot, most true owls can. Though, many smaller species of owl are classified as having a trill or similar sound because their hoots are too high a pitch to be recognized as such.

Revised edition, now with a few photos as reference.