We have discussed in this blog, at various times in the
past, the amazing adaptations exhibited by the Common Barn Owl—its feathers,
its uncanny ability to locate prey by sound, its eyesight, etc.
One of World Bird Sanctuary's resident Barn Owls--Goblin
Recently a friend forwarded a You Tube link to me that
demonstrates, in slow motion, many
of these features of the Barn Owl.
It gives the viewer an astonishing mouse-eye view of what happens when a
Barn Owl zeroes in on its prey—the location of the prey using its facial disks
to funnel the sound back to its ears, the way the bird manipulates its wing and
tail feathers to direct its flight, location of the prey item, and finally the
spreading of its talons to grasp the prey.
Also, at the end of the video when they give the bird its
reward (a mouse) note how what appears to be a small beak manages to swallow
the mouse whole—amazing!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Submitted by Gay Schroer, World Bird Sanctuary Volunteer
Photographer
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