OWLS OF THE
ADIRONDACKS
Story by Lisa Densmore
Photos by John Digiacomo
I
f our eyes took up as much of our face as an owl's eyes do, they
would be as big as softballs. It takes sizeable pupils to see so
sharply at night, a trait all owls have in common.
Owls' eyes are uniquely adapted to hunting at night in other ways as
well. For example, owls' eyes don't move or allow peripheral vision,
which forces an owl to move its head if it wants to see in another
direction. That said, it's only folktale that owls can rotate their
head all the way around, though they can swing it an impressive 270
degrees, thanks to 14 neck vertebrae - twice as many as we have.
Owls can also detect motion better than we can, but not color, which
probably doesn't matter considering their nocturnal lifestyle.
Owls hear more acutely than we do, too, which allows them to find
prey they can't see under vegetation or snow. Their ears are hidden
under the edge of their facial disk, which helps catch and direct sound
to their ears. Interestingly, their right ear is higher than their left ear.
When an owl tilts its head to equalize the sound, its eyes automatically
look in the direction of the prey it hears. As soon as an owl gets its
ear-eye bearing, it swoops silently from its perch. Then, it's bye-bye
vole, field mouse, duckling, or skunk-let. The victim is in this raptor's
LOCALadk
