Habits
a transparent lens and back onto the retina. They have far better eyesight than humans do. With plenty of light, Barn Owls found hunting during the day are able to locate their prey by sight from great distances, and to glide in for the kill.
Locating Prey Through Hearing Barn Owls have a highly-developed sense of hearing, thought to be 35 to 100 times more sensitive than our own human hearing, allowing them to hunt in almost comCompared with other birds of prey, the plete darkness. They can hear wing tips of an owl are much softer; this enables it to fly silently. squeaking, scratching or rustling through the dirt, leaves, or grass and can pinpoint the location of that sound in a second and then align their beak towards the location of their prey. Taking off from a vantage point, the Barn Owl flaps its wings silently, while swinging its feet back and forth. Then, just before its head collides with the ground and the unsuspecting prey, the owl throws its head back, thrusts its feet forward and sinks its razor sharp talons deep into the body of the prey. Because owls are typically active at night, they have a highly-developed auditory (hearing) system. The ears are located at the sides of the head, behind the eyes, and are covered by the feathers of the facial disc. It should be noted that tufts resembling ears on some species like Great Horned Owls, are not ears at all, but simply display feathers. An owl uses its unique, sensitive ears to locate prey by listening for the slightest movements through leaves, foliage, or even snow. When the owl hears a noise, it is able to tell the direction because of the minute time difference in which the sound is perceived in the left and right ear.
24
If the sound was to the left of the owl, the left ear would hear
© 2021 Owl Brand Supply Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction permission for education purposes only and not for resale or commercial use without specific permission.
