These 4 incredible facts about owls
Learning canadian bird expert James Duncan in his new book, “Owls of the world” (Owls of the World) tells why owls are a wonder of nature and how they differ from other birds.
Rotating head
Owls are large birds and are unable to move freely in their housings. That is why in the course of evolution they have acquired the ability to rotate the head 180 degrees to see in all directions.
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Such tricks succeed birds with powerful neck in her right 14 neck vertebrae (humans — only 7) and very powerful vessels: when the owl turning his head, this does not affect the flow of blood to the brain.
Many are touched at the sight of the round face of an owl, but not everyone knows that it works like a satellite dish. When a person wants something better to hear, he puts a hand to his ear, and so directs the sound wave in the desired direction. But the owls this helps not only the shape of the head, but hard, dense feathers of the facial disk. They direct sound right into the ears of birds.
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Thanks to “face-the-radar” owls have exceptional hearing. They can hear a mouse even under a four-foot layer of snow.
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Eastern barn owl masked knows how to grow “horns” — it moves the feathers on the head so to create a formidable fantasy and scare away natural predators. And the special structure of the eyelid allows the barn owl to see even with closed eyes through the small slits.
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White-faced scoop (Ptilopsis leucotis) is able to “inflate” or “deflate”, sharply increasing or decreasing in size.
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To intimidate the aggressors, almost all owls eyes bulge, put feathers and spread your wings, becoming twice as much.
Decorators
The burrowing owl is a small long-legged owl that lives in North and South America. These birds live and nest in burrows. It’s been known to “decorate” their homes in a variety of things: from toad’s feet and excrement of mammals to the butts.
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Scientists believe that owls are lured in burrows of beetles that feed on. But still it can be part of a courtship ritual.
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See also:
- A family of owls won the heart of a photographer
- Where does a butterfly pretending to be an owl (photos)
- On the table of the official of the Ministry of ecology found stuffed owls