It's Superb Owl Sunday!

Author: Chris P. Bacon

Sun Feb 02 2020

United States - The day has finally arrived! Get out your chicken wings, your 7-layer dip, big TV, cheap beer, and get ready to celebrate the wonder of the superb creature that is the owl. Some will say that they are only interested in this day because the TV commercials are spectacular, and that may be true. But there is something far more interesting to discuss.

On a personal note, my grandmother was particularly fond of owls. And she would have been really happy to read this.

If nothing else can be said about this article, at least we aren't going to get sued for talking about whatever the hell the NFL is planning on doing today.

GO Chiefs!!!

Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes about 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl.

Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except polar ice caps and some remote islands.

Still reading? Okay...

Anatomy
Owls possess large, forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a hawk-like beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers, a facial disc, around each eye. The feathers making up this disc can be adjusted to sharply focus sounds from varying distances onto the owls' asymmetrically placed ear cavities. Most birds of prey have eyes on the sides of their heads, but the stereoscopic nature of the owl's forward-facing eyes permits the greater sense of depth perception necessary for low-light hunting.

Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets, as are those of most other birds, so they must turn their entire heads to change views. As owls are farsighted, they are unable to clearly see anything within a few centimeters of their eyes. Caught prey can be felt by owls with the use of filoplumes, hairlike feathers on the beak and feet that act as "feelers". Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good.

For more information, or, actually for this exact information, please see the Wikipedia entry on owls

Photo credits go to whatever you get when you type "owl" into a Google image search.

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