When do owls hunt for food?
Do owls live on every continent?
Did you know that there's one bird known for being a fierce predator and extremely wise? Who is it? The owl, of course!
Owls are birds of prey known as raptors. Like all raptors, owls have sharp beaks and strong claws — called talons — that they use to catch and eat other animals for food. Other raptors include hawks, eagles, and falcons.
Owls don't necessarily compete with other raptors for food. In fact, they can often share territories, because unlike most raptors, owls are mostly nocturnal. That means owls do most of their hunting at night when other raptors are sleeping.
Scientists believe there are over 200 different kinds of owls around the world. Almost 20 species of owls can be found in North America alone. Today, owls can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
Owls can range in size from the very small elf owl (five inches tall) to the two-foot-tall great gray owl. Regardless of size, all owls tend to be stocky with large heads and soft feathers. Their feathers are often light colors, such as tan, brown, gray, and white, which allow them to blend in easily with tree trunks and branches.
When you see an owl, one of the first things you notice is its large eyes. Owl eyes are so large, in fact, that they can't even move in their sockets like your eyes can. Owls have to move their heads around instead.
Owls' large eyes enable them to see better at night when they tend to hunt. Most owls can see about three times better at night than you can!
Believe it or not, though, most owls don't hunt mainly by sight. Instead, they hunt mostly by sound. The feathers around an owl's face collect sound much like a satellite dish collects signals from space.
Owls also have one ear that is slightly higher on its head than the other ear. This means that sounds reach owls' ears at slightly different times, allowing their brains to judge more accurately where the sound came from.
So are owls really wise? Scientists know for sure that they're good predators. As for actual wisdom, who knows? Historians do know that owls have appeared in the art and writings of various cultures since ancient times.
The ancient Greek and Roman goddesses of wisdom, for example, were often pictured with owls. This may have led to their being used in many other types of popular culture as a symbol of wisdom. Many children's books, from Winnie-the-Pooh to the Harry Potter series, feature owls as wise and noble creatures.
Tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day will take you to a tropical island paradise with a unique post office!
Jump online and check out the Owl Gallery to see photographs of many different types of owl species. Which species do you think are the most interesting? Why? Pick out one species and do some Internet research to learn more about it.
If you want to see owls in action, be sure to check out National Geographic's Wild Detectives: Night Owls video. Would you want to be the prey of an owl? Knowing the owl's hunting capabilities, how might you choose to camouflage yourself from a hunting owl?
Hey, Val! We're really glad you liked this WONDER. Maybe this Wonder--Why do Owls Hoot?--will be of interest!
thanks, ill take a look!!! and i will let u kno whow i like it!!
First I just want to say that Wonderopolis is a great way to learn about more stuff.
Thanks for being our Wonder Friend, lily!
It is the owl because it has a picture of an owl on the title.
Thanks for stopping by, Sophia! It's WONDERful!
Hi guys I saw your comments and i just wanted to join the discussion and hi wonderoprolis!!!
Hi Michael! Feel free to jump into the discussion!
How can we classify owl species according to their size?
Great question, Elif Öykü Selanik! An Internet search might be the best resource to classify owl species by size.
What will happen if we consume owls from the Earth?
Hi Mert Erdal! That's a great question. We would worry about transmission of disease because of what the owls eat. We aren't sure whether there are legal issues. If you find out more, let us know! Thanks for WONDERing!
I love this but you should add more videos!
Thanks for the feedback, Mad Dog! We are glad to have you WONDERing with us!
Owls are the best! Thanks for WONDERing, Pippa!
That is so great, Charlotte! We are glad that you got to read about your favorite animal and learned something new, too!
We feel the same way, charlotte. WONDER on!
Hi I liked this topic so much I have decided to do my report on this. Great job on this article.
Are owls really the smartest bird?
We dissected owl pellets in class this year by the way the great horned owl is my favorite owl.
We learned that owls are nocturnal. We wondering if they ever came out during the day at all?
Why are owls wise? Do they talk to people?
I love owls!!! Do you have any other wonders about them??? I just recently got an urge to start drawing them. I also made one out of a soap carving!!!!
Hello Wonderopolis. We are so excited to have found your website. We were thinking about making daily visits to your website. This is a great resource. We have a wonder for you. How do owls' heads turn completely around?
This is amazing I wonder why in Harry potter they traded messages through owls.
I learned that owls hunt by the sounds around them. Another fact I learned about owls is that almost 20 species of owls can be found in North America alone. I had an awsome time learning about owls today!
I love owls a lot. I even have a joke about them that I made. Knock knock. Who's there. Who. Who who? What are you? An owl? Get it? Who who sounds like hoo hoo like an owl does.
My favorite bird is an owl!!!
I think that tomorrow's wonder will be about monster energy drinks or maybe even a V8 drink.
I thinks cats are the wisest birds.
An owl is what type of bird?
What do owls use to capture their prey?
What part of an owl’s body does it mainly use to hunt?