15 Mystical Facts About Owls

Owls are enigmatic birds, by turns mysterious, charming, or creepy, depending on who you ask. With over 200 species surviving every continent except Antarctica, owls have super-tuned senses that help them search prey throughout the world. And they’re pretty darn charming, as well. Here 15 mystical facts about owls for you:

OWLS CAN TURN THEIR HEADS MOSTLY ALL THE MEANS AROUND– BUT NOT QUITE.

It’s a misconception that owls can turn their heads 360 degrees. The birds can in fact transform their necks 135 degrees in either direction, which gives them 270 levels of complete activity. According to scientists, bone adaptations, blood vessels with contractile storage tanks, as well as a sustaining vascular network enable the owls to transform their heads that far without cutting off blood to the brain.

OWLS HAVE WELL-BALANCED, TUBULAR EYES.

Instead of round eyeballs, owls have “eye tubes” that go far back right into their skulls– which indicates their eyes are repaired in place, so they need to transform their heads to see. The dimension of their eyes helps them see at night, and they’re well-balanced, which permits them to detect prey from lawns away. Up close, every little thing is fuzzy, as well as they rely on little, hair-like plumes on their beaks as well as feet to feel their food.

THEY HAVE SUPER-POWERED HEARING.

Owls can listen to target under leaves, plants, dirt, and also snow. Some owls have sets of ears at different elevations on their heads, which lets them situate victims based on tiny differences in acoustic waves. Other owls have flat faces with unique feathers that focus sound, essentially turning their faces right into one big ear. (The “ear tufts” on some owls are plumes.).

FACTS ABOUT OWLS – OWL TRIP IS SILENT.

Unlike a lot of birds, owls make virtually no sound when they fly. They have special plumes that break turbulence into smaller sized currents, which reduces audio. Soft velvety down additional muffles noise.

OWLS INGEST VICTIM WHOLE, THEN BARF UP THE CARCASS.

Getting killed by an owl is terrible. First, the owl gets hold of the victim and squashes it to fatality with its solid talons. Then, relying on the dimension, it either consumes the victim whole or holes it up. The owl’s digestive system tract refines the body, and also the components that can not be absorbed, like hair and bones, are compacted into a pellet, which the owl later on spews. Sometimes, those pellets are collected for children to dissect in school.

FACTS ABOUT OWLS – THEY SOMETIMES EAT OTHER OWLS.

Not only do owls consume remarkably large targets (some species, like the eagle owl, can even get tiny deer), they also consume other types of owls. Great horned owls, for example, will strike the barred owl. The barred owl, in turn, often consumes the Western screech-owl. Actually, owl-on-owl predation might be a reason that Western screech-owl numbers have actually decreased.

FACTS ABOUT OWLS – OWLS FEED THE TOUGHEST INFANTS FIRST.

As extreme as it seems, the moms and dads constantly feed the earliest and greatest owlet before its brother or sister. This indicates that if food is limited, the youngest chicks will certainly deprive. After an owlet leaves the nest, it usually lives neighboring in the very same tree, as well as its moms and dads still bring it food. If it can make it through the first winter by itself, its opportunities for survival are excellent.

THEY’RE MASTERS OF CAMOUFLAGE.

Lots of owls sleep in broad daylight, however, the shades as well as markings on their plumes– like the African Scops Owl, above– let them blend in with their environments.

SOMETIMES THEY MAKE A SCARY HISSING NOISE.

Other than hooting, owls make a range of telephone calls, from screeches to whistles to squeaks. The barn owl hisses when it really feels intimidating, which sounds like something from a headache.

FACTS ABOUT OWLS – ELF OWLS STAY IN CACTI.

The tiniest owl is the elf owl, which resides in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It will certainly often make its home in the huge saguaro cactus, nesting in openings made by other pets. Nevertheless, the elf owl isn’t choosy and also will certainly likewise live in trees or on telephone poles.

DELVING OWLS TAKE OVER SAVANNA CANINE TOWNS– AND QUEST WITH POOP.

The long-legged burrowing owl stays in South and North America. Among minority owls that is energetic throughout the daytime, it nests in the ground, relocating right into tunnels dug deep into by various other animals such as grassy field pets. They’ll likewise dig their own residences if required. After that, they’ll border the entryways to their burrows with dung and also “rest at the burrow entryway all day long and it appears like they’re not doing anything,” College of Florida zoologist Douglas Levey told National Geographic. Yet they’re refraining from doing nothing: They’re angling. The poop is bait for dung beetles, one of the owls’ favorite types of the victim. “Everyone who examines burrowing owls recognizes they bring dung back to their burrows, as well as they recognize that delving owls consume a lot of dung beetles. But no one had actually put two and two together,” Levey, co-author of a 2004 study revealing the habits, claimed.

OWLS ARE ALL-NATURAL PEST CONTROL FOR FARMERS.

Owls consume a lot of rats. A solitary barn owl family will consume 3000 rodents in a four-month breeding cycle. One owl can consume 50 extra pounds of gophers in a year. Lots of farmers are setting up owl nesting boxes in the hopes that owls will clear out insects like gophers and voles from their land. This all-natural type of bug control is safer as well as cheaper than making use of poison, as well as it’s far better for the owls also. Lots of owls pass away every year from eating rodents that have been poisoned.

OWLS WERE ONCE A SIGN OF VICTORY IN FIGHT …

In ancient Greece, the Little Owl was the friend of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, which is one reason that owls signify discovering and also knowledge. Yet Athena was likewise a warrior siren and also the owl was considered the guard of militaries entering into battle. If Greek soldiers saw an owl zip throughout the fight, they took it as a sign of coming triumph.

… AND ALSO An ICON OF DEATH.

From ancient times on, owls have been related to death, evil, and various other superstitious notions. Many cultures saw owls as an indication of putting in jeopardy death. As an example, an owl was claimed to have actually anticipated the death of Julius Caesar. They have actually likewise been related to witches and other supposed wicked beings. While this may sound like Halloween enjoyable, numerous cultures still have superstitious notions regarding owls and also in some locations, owls are killed based upon these ideas.

OWLS, AS WEll AS HUMANS, NORMALLY GET ALONG.

Owls have actually been popular since old times. They appear in Egyptian hieroglyphs as well as the 30,000-year-old cave paintings in France. Falconers have actually utilized owls since the Center Ages, although not as typically as other birds. Today, we still love owls. Though it’s prohibited to keep them as pet dogs in the United States, they’re smart and also sociable. (Most of the moment, anyway– owls can attack human beings when really feeling intimidated.) In Japan, there are even owl cafés, where you can hang out with owls while consuming tea.

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