Excited to unveil some weird yet interesting facts about owls! Are they dangerous? Do they bling? Many silly yet unique questions about this astonishing and formidable bird are disclosed below. Let’s delve into the 25 most amazing facts about owls!
Various people get fascinated with owls at a tender age, and many children have a sheer excitement for them. Everyone can relate to the ‘Hoo, Hoo’ sound of the owls. You can easily spot these creatures near caves or in forest areas where they have been native for more than 1,000 years.
There is a distinct affinity for owls in Canada as it’s the provincial bird of Alberta. Owns gain popularity for being innate slayers, and there are many other incredible attributes of these birds slated below.
25 Amazing Facts About Owls
It’s enchanting to know that certain owl species have a human size eye despite their head size being much smaller than that of a human skull.
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The eyes of owls do not have the usual spherical shape, and rather they are round and big. Though this facilitates them to gain a better vision, this also restricts their eye movements significantly. Perhaps, their flexible neck reimburses for this issue, and it could turn 270 degrees towards the left or right with extreme ease.
The vision of an average owl is around 2-3 times sharper than that of humans, and they get better precision of vision during the nighttime.
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An average owl could resist and adapt to over 2.7 times more light than a normal human eye.
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Owls have a deeper focus of vision which is 10 times faster than humans, and it helps in making quick flight adjustments to slay small prey to secure themselves from the natural barriers or collisions on the way.
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For protecting their eyes during a hunt, the owls activate their nictitating membrane or a rare third eyelid. It is an extremely transparent membrane over their eye, but they can surely get a sight through it.
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Now, let’s move to the next amazing facts about owls that speak about their hearing capacities. The asymmetrical ear openings allow sounds to pass through their ears in fractions of seconds, and it could be as little as the 3/100,000ths of the second. This is a versatile hearing characteristic of the owl that helps to hear finely even during rains or snow.
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Owls have large feathered discs that enable the concentration of sound waves, such as parabolic antennas.
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These creatures have a huge wing surface relative to their body weight, and it helps them glide out noiselessly. With a comb-like fringe at the front and wing feathers having a trailing edge, owls can stifle the sound efficiently.
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Scientists use owl’s wing and feather structure to evolve discrete mechanisms like cars, vans, planes and turbines.
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Most owls hunt during the night, and their favored prey are the nocturnal animal species like the voles, rabbits, skunks and mice. Pheasants and grouse are amongst hunting favorites.
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The popular great-horned owl hoots to pass on a gesture to her mate, and she responds similarly.
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Female owls are bigger and 40% heavier than male owls, which helps in energy generation to incubate eggs.
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Several owls prefer to nest during the February and March month, while others use nests of the crows and hawks or even reside in the birdhouses.
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Owls also nest on the grass mounds or feathers in the areas where there is the absence of trees.
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Owls have a mystic feather type that smokescreens well with the environmental changes. The ones on snowy terrains are white, while other owls with tawny-brown feathers have a sandy and grassy home.
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Some other amazing facts about owls disclose that they lay 2-3 eggs which they hatch in around 30 days after nesting.
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Owls have a unique persona of imitating the calls and are curious creatures who entertain with their distinct sounds. However, it might appear frightening to many.
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The ears of owls are of different sizes. This enables them to adapt unique sounds, and the asymmetrical alignment of ears helps identify the exact sound location as well.
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The eyes of owls count for 1-5% of their overall body weight, and they have a flattened face that acts as a channel to pass on the minutest sounds.
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The smallest owl inhabiting in this world is the elf owl that’s 5-6 inches in height and carries a weight of almost 1.5 ounces.
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The largest alive owl in the world is the Gray owl residing in North America and is almost 32 inches in height.
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An astonishing fact says that the northern hawk owl could glide 12 inches deep into the snow and yet get hold of its prey.
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Owls are easily found in most of the continents apart from Antarctica.
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Owls are witty creatures who act notorious at times, and it is tricky to train them. It is comparatively much easier to train other birds like the pigeons, hawks and parrots.
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Final words
So, now you have a good overview of these might creatures with the amazing facts about owls mentioned above. These are the most ancient animals alive on the earth, and their traces are evident in Greek Mythology.
Some parts of the world also associate many negative myths to the owls, while it’s a symbol of wealth, good luck, and fortune in many locations. Do visit back for more such fascinating revelations about your favorite animal species.