The owl is one of the more interesting birds around. It is also one of the most skilled bird predators around

The eyes of the owl, unlike that of most birds are in the front of its head. This is a sure sign of a predator. Having eyes in this position allows them to look down on and pinpoint their prey with amazing clarity. In addition, owls have superior night vision which gives them an edge over other predators when hunting at night. Their eyes are not perfect, however.

For one, owls cannot see in color. Everything is black and white and shades of gray to them. Also, owls eyes are fixed in their head. So, in order to see from side to side, they have to rotate their head. Fortunately, they can do this better than any other bird. They can rotate their heads as much as three quarters of a turn which allows them to see practically all around them without moving. In addition, each of their eyes move independently. This gives them the ability to simultaneously monitor and focus on two items of interest at once.

The hearing of the owl is just about as amazing as its eyes. Much like a bat, it can pretty much pinpoint the location of prey purely by sound. Like a bat, owls have oversized ears that are shaped almost perfectly to enable them to pick up sounds. And, while not as sophisticated as that of a bat, their ears have the ability to let them locate prey in pitch black. This gives them the extraordinary ability to pinpoint prey purely by sound, confirm the prey with their eyes, and silently attack before the prey even knows that it is being hunted.

As with their sight, however, their auditory abilities do have a flaw. Their range of hearing is not as wide as many other birds. Owls cannot hear sounds below seventy cycles per second. This is like an auditory blind spot for them.

The owl is known for its stealth hunting capabilities. Its diet consists mainly of small mammals, occasionally other birds, and field mice and other rodents. Its wings are shaped in such a way that they are dampened in flight. This makes owls remarkably silent when they attack. Prey often relies, to an extent, on sound to give them warning of an impending attack. Because of its stealth flight capabilities, however, the owl’s prey often doesn’t even hear the attack coming.

Unless you are a night person, the odds of your actually seeing an owl in action is rare, as they are mostly night creatures. They mostly sleep during the day. But they truly are one of the most interesting birds to observe when in action.

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