Owls are very widespread and can be found on all continents except Antarctica.

Most owls are nocturnal carnivores, eating mainly rodents, but also insects, small birds, lizards, fish, and other animals.

The chances of seeing an owl during the day are very small, but instead, we hear their peculiar calls at night.

So, how do owls catch the very alert mice in the dark of the night?

1. Keen Eyesight

The pupil of an owl's eye is very large and can absorb more light at night.

Most animals have two types of sensory cells in the retina at the base of the eye, one type of optic rod cell and the other type of optic cone cell.

Rod cells, which are sensitive to low light, can only distinguish light from dark, not the details or colors of objects.

The cone cells, which can perceive strong light and color, can distinguish the details and colors of objects.

In contrast, the retina of owls contains only optic rod cells and no cone cells.

Therefore, owls have good sensitivity to low light and are suitable for nocturnal activities.

In addition, because the owl's eyes are located in front of the face plate, its visual range has an overlapping area.

Therefore, owls are able to see three-dimensional objects, which helps them to accurately determine the proximity of prey and make accurate captures.

2. Flexible Twisting Neck

Although the owl's eyes are sensitive to low light at night, the fact that both eyes face forward and are fixed in their sockets, and cannot be turned makes the range seen by both eyes somewhat limited.

But for this problem, owls also have a solution.

The owl has a special cervical structure that allows the neck to turn very flexibly.

The range of motion of their heads can be as high as 270 °. Their faces can even be turned to the rear.

As a result, owls have a very large observation range, which is conducive to capturing prey and avoiding enemies.

3. Well-developed Hearing

Owls have very well-developed hearing and their left and right ears are not identical in shape and structure.

The left ear canal is wider than the right ear canal, and the left ear has a well-developed ear drum that facilitates localization through hearing.

Most owls also have two clusters of ear feathers on the top of their heads, which function like the human auricle and facilitate sound collection.

In addition, the ears of owls are located high and low on the sides of the head.

This helps them to identify the source of sound more precisely.

From the position of their ear holes, the owl's eyes can be observed.

4. Silent Flight

The silent flight characteristics of owls are the overall effect of a combination of several noise reduction factors.

The morphology of the owl's wing shape and primary flight feathers plays a role in noise reduction.

The morphological structure of a large number of down feathers distributed in other parts of the owl's body, as well as the owl skin and subcutaneous structures, play a role in sound absorption and noise reduction.

The mechanical properties of owl feathers have a more complex contribution to noise reduction and may have both anechoic and acoustic noise reduction effects.

After reading so much knowledge about owl fun, do you want to have an owl as a pet?

Here we have to remind you that the number of owls has not been many and needs to be protected.