Fascinating Facts on Barn Owls As told in Book "Wesley The Owl" by Stacey OBrien
1. Barn owls are highly emotional and have many ways to express their feelings. They are affectionate. They cuddle with their mate and babies. Un releasable Barn Owls who are not touched will become neurotic and depressed.
2. Barn Owls mate for life. If the mate dies, the survivor often shuts down and wills itself to die.
3. Barn Owls practice birth control. They will breed only when they perceive an excess of available mice for food.
4. When Barn Owls are seen mating, they often do not actually breed. They use a mating ritual as a greeting to each other.
5. Barn Owls can lay one to 10 eggs when breeding, although most often lay 5 - one per day.
6. Barn Owls can make faces because they have many tiny facial muscles. They use facial expressions to communicate as do humans.
7. Barn Owls use many vocalizations with their mate or keeper, from screams to hisses. From snores to chirps and will often sound like a parrot.
8. Owls make distinctive head-to-head side movements when investigating something visually in order to have depth perception. Because owl's eyes are fixed in their heads, they have to move their entire head side to side for their brains to obtain data.
9. Barn Owls have a comb on the inside of their talon on the middle toe. They use it to comb feathers on their head and face and clean the comb with their beak.
10. Most owls have an oil glad at the base of their tail called the uropygial gland. They pinch the gland while grooming and spread the contents all over their bodies. This oil is a precursor to Vitamin D, and when exposed to the sun, become vitamin D which the owl ingests during preening. Barn owls have this glad but there is no oil in it. In order to get Vitamin D, they swallow their prey whole ingesting the digestive tract of the mouse. (Whole mice is all they eat).
11. Barn owls are solitary adults except when there is a mate. They do not have a flocking instinct. Social animals understand human correcting techniques such as yelling or quick movements. But these scare a barn owl, and they will become uncooperative for their keeper. Barn owls remember everything thus will remember the human that was trying to train them.
12. Owls do not have a crop like other birds. Thus, they carry their food for the future in talons. When trying to attract a mate the male will often pile up the mice for a potential mate.
13. Owls are nocturnal and hunt at night. The most important hunting hour is first hour after sunset. They should not be disturbed at this time. All humans should avoid touching a tree trunk of a tree containing an owl. Curious creatures such as racoons climb the tree and kill the owl.
14. Barn Owls can capture prey in absolute darkness using only their acute sense of hearing.
15. Interesting Barn Owls will often recognize themselves in a mirror.
16. Barn Owls have an amazing ability to adapt to new situations and can be found living in cities or suburbs. The main killers of owls are cars and trucks plus rodent poisoned by humans and eaten by the owl.
1. Barn owls are highly emotional and have many ways to express their feelings. They are affectionate. They cuddle with their mate and babies. Un releasable Barn Owls who are not touched will become neurotic and depressed.
2. Barn Owls mate for life. If the mate dies, the survivor often shuts down and wills itself to die.
3. Barn Owls practice birth control. They will breed only when they perceive an excess of available mice for food.
4. When Barn Owls are seen mating, they often do not actually breed. They use a mating ritual as a greeting to each other.
5. Barn Owls can lay one to 10 eggs when breeding, although most often lay 5 - one per day.
6. Barn Owls can make faces because they have many tiny facial muscles. They use facial expressions to communicate as do humans.
7. Barn Owls use many vocalizations with their mate or keeper, from screams to hisses. From snores to chirps and will often sound like a parrot.
8. Owls make distinctive head-to-head side movements when investigating something visually in order to have depth perception. Because owl's eyes are fixed in their heads, they have to move their entire head side to side for their brains to obtain data.
9. Barn Owls have a comb on the inside of their talon on the middle toe. They use it to comb feathers on their head and face and clean the comb with their beak.
10. Most owls have an oil glad at the base of their tail called the uropygial gland. They pinch the gland while grooming and spread the contents all over their bodies. This oil is a precursor to Vitamin D, and when exposed to the sun, become vitamin D which the owl ingests during preening. Barn owls have this glad but there is no oil in it. In order to get Vitamin D, they swallow their prey whole ingesting the digestive tract of the mouse. (Whole mice is all they eat).
11. Barn owls are solitary adults except when there is a mate. They do not have a flocking instinct. Social animals understand human correcting techniques such as yelling or quick movements. But these scare a barn owl, and they will become uncooperative for their keeper. Barn owls remember everything thus will remember the human that was trying to train them.
12. Owls do not have a crop like other birds. Thus, they carry their food for the future in talons. When trying to attract a mate the male will often pile up the mice for a potential mate.
13. Owls are nocturnal and hunt at night. The most important hunting hour is first hour after sunset. They should not be disturbed at this time. All humans should avoid touching a tree trunk of a tree containing an owl. Curious creatures such as racoons climb the tree and kill the owl.
14. Barn Owls can capture prey in absolute darkness using only their acute sense of hearing.
15. Interesting Barn Owls will often recognize themselves in a mirror.
16. Barn Owls have an amazing ability to adapt to new situations and can be found living in cities or suburbs. The main killers of owls are cars and trucks plus rodent poisoned by humans and eaten by the owl.
