Interesting Facts about Owls !!!

Owl is a bird of prey i.e. it hunts other living creatures for the purpose of obtaining food. The most common preys of an owl are small mammals, insects and other birds. Here are some interesting facts about Owls :-

1. Owls cannot chew their prey because they do not have teeth.

2.Most owls hunt at night and in doing so avoid competition with daytime avian hunters such as hawks and eagles.

Mother Owl Camouflaging baby !!!

3. A group of owls is called a parliament, wisdom or study. Baby owls are called owlets.

4. An owl's eyes are fixed in bony eye sockets and they cannot turn their eyes. Instead, owls rotate their heads up to 270 degrees, but they cannot turn their heads all the way around.

5. There are more than 150 species of owls in the world, and some counts indicate more than 220 species depending on how different owls are classified.

6. Owls are farsighted and are unable to see anything clearly within a few centimeters of their eyes.

7. Several owls species have "ear" tufts on their heads but they aren't ears at all. These tufts of feathers may

Cute owl !!!

indicate the bird's mood, help keep it camouflaged or be used to show aggression.

8. An owl has three eyelids: one for blinking, one for sleeping and one for keeping the eye clean and healthy.

9. A Barn owl can eat up to 1,000 mice each year, and many farmers try to attract barn owls to help control rodent populations in agricultural fields.

10. Owls have zygodactyl feet with two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backward. This gives the birds a stronger, more powerful grip so they can be more effective predators.

11. For most owl species, females are larger, heavier and more aggressive than males.

Barn Owl In Flight !!!

12. Not all owls hoot, and owls can make a wide range of other sounds, such as screeches, whistles, barks and hisses.

13. Owls have developed special feather adaptations that enable them to minimize the sound made when flapping their wings.

14. Owls have been found in the fossil record up to 58 million years ago. The largest recorded owl fossil, Orinmegalonyx oteroi, stood about three feet tall.

Snow Owl !!!

15. The biggest modern threats to owls are habitat loss, pesticides that poison the birds and their food supplies and human persecution because of negative superstitions.  

16. Not all owl species are nocturnal. How often an owl is seen during the day depends on the seasonal amount of daylight and darkness, food supplies and habitat.