Eyes of a Hunter

into smaller micro-turbulence. These smaller areas of turbulence roll along the owl’s wings toward the trailing edge, which is made up of a flexible fringe that breaks up the air further as it flows off the trailing edge, resulting in a larger reduction of aerodynamic noise. Remaining noise that would be noticed by an owl’s prey is absorbed by velvety down feathers on the owl’s wings and legs. These soft feathers absorb high frequency sounds that most prey, as well as humans, are sensitive to. These features enable owls to remain undetected when they fly. It’s believed that the wing’s serrated leading edge is most effective at reducing noise when the wing is at a steep angle—which would happen when the owl is close to its prey and coming in for a strike! Mice, shrews, voles, rats, moles, small birds and insects rarely know what hit them when they become the main item on the menu of the Barn Owl. The Barn Owl flies differently when hunting during the daylight hours. This generally happens only when it is feeding its young.

While many people believe the Barn Owl is blind during the day, it actually has eyes that are well equipped for diurnal (daytime) hunting. The owl has a muscular iris, designed to respond like an automatic shade or curtain. This feature allows just the right amount of light to pass through the cornea or window of the eye, then through

Humans use muscles to move their eyeballs. The large eyes of an owl do not move within the eye socket. Instead, the owl rotates its head to observe the world around it, as if it were looking through a pair of binoculars.