Five things you might not have known about Barn Owls

Awhile back, after reading Crow Planet, I made a somewhat lazy decision to continue reading books in the bird theme. Since then I've only managed to read one more bird book, in between work, studying, cooking, cleaning, painting, etc. But it was such a good book that I've been meaning to write about it here for awhile. It's called Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and his Girl, by Stacey O'Brien. Aside from being a truly enjoyable story about a CalTech research assistant who finds herself proud mama of an injured baby owlet and the trials and tribulations of being such, it was also fascinating as a window into the world of owls. I've always liked owls and thought they were very beautiful, and my mother likes to collect owl figurines so I've been connected to them in that way for my entire life. But I never knew how very different they are even from other birds of prey. Wesley was a barn owl. We watch him grow up from a fluffy sleeping baby, to a raucous teenager, to a dignified adult. I've made a short list of things I learned while reading this book. These facts apply mostly to barn owls, which have their own family separate from the other owls, Tytonidae. (might sound familiar if you watched Legend of the Guardians).

1. Owl feathers are soft. REALLY soft. (Actually, I already knew this, having been fortunate enough to have handled owls. But this next bit is really cool). They are so soft that they make no noise whatsoever when flying. An owls flight feathers have a special velvety substance on them that absorbs sound, and the edges are serrated to cause less air disturbance. This is how owls sneak up on dinner, ahem, mice. An owl could fly inches from the top of your head and you would never even hear it.

2.  The external ears of a barn owl are placed asymmetrically on the head, which allows it to hear and locate prey. A barn owl's sense of hearing is so accurate that it can hunt successfully in absolute darkness, or locate a mouse under mounds of snow just by the sound of its beating heart.

3. Barn owls eat and drink only mice. They rarely if ever need to drink water, because they get all of the fluids they need from the mouse, which they swallow whole. They later regurgitate what is known as an owl pellet, a concretion of bones and fur and other inedibles.

4. The crop, an outpouching of the esophagus and a characteristic of most birds, is absent in barn owls. Since they are unable to store extra food in their non-existent crop, they can sometimes be seen holding their next meal in a talon.

5. Barn owls are extremely emotional, intelligent birds, They communicate by facial expressions and body language, like humans. They mate for life, and when one dies, the other will become depressed, stop eating, and die shortly thereafter.

Wesley the Owl was a fantastic book, and Wesley was clearly an exceptional member of his species. I hope that many people read this book, and that it inspires them to be active in conservation efforts for all of our beloved species.