Great Horned Owl

At the Audubon Center in Sandstone, they have a great gray owl that cannot be released into the wild. The staff there brought it out on display for us. These owls look just like tree bark. We were shown some photos of great grays in the woods and at first, our eyes could not spot the bird because they blend in so well. If an owl perches next to a tree trunk, they wear a cloak of invisibility like Harry Potter. Their ear tufts help disguise them because a perfectly rounded head would be more noticeable on a tree. The ear tufts are not where the ears are located. The ears are closer to the huge yellow eyes. On owls, one ear is located farther up on the head than the other. Using both ears, the owl will turn it's head until the sound is equal in both ears. When the sound is equal, the owl knows it's looking right at the source of the noise even if it can't see it with the eyes. So if they hear a vole moving around 4 inches under the snow the owl knows exactly where to swoop down and grab it. Their face is scrunched in and saucer like. The shape of an owl face helps in the same way a satellite dish helps bring in signals. Unlike the barred owl with it's soulful brown eyes, the great gray has yellow eyes. Our speaker (see above holding the owl) said that if a human had proportionataly the same size eyes as an owl, the eyes would be as big as grapefruits. The owl eyes are not round like ours but tubular in shape. That is why an owl cannot turns it's eyes to look from side to side but must turn it's entire head. The owl can turn it's head 270 degrees or three quarters of a circle. We humans can only turn our heads 70 degrees. A human has 6 cervical vertebra it our necks. Owls have 14 vertebrae in their necks. Owls cannot digest fur and bones. They vomit up pellets of undigested fur and bones after every meal. Our speaker said some people find baby owls and raise them. The unknowing owl caretakers feed them meat but not whole animals with fur and bones. Those owls have no need to make pellets. Eventually these captive owls die. Vomiting pellets rids the owls of undigested fur and bones but also scrapes the digestive system of bacteria and germs which can be deadly. In the second photo I am holding an owl wing that has been processed by a taxidermist. See the fringe at the top of the wing? That is the forward part of the wing. The fringe breaks up the wind pattern making it possible for the owl to fly in total silence. The prey doesn't hear them coming and the owl can hear the prey more clearly since their wings aren't making a flapping noise. Great gray owls are awesome. I think I'll have to put them on my list of birds that I want to see in the wild.