The Ark of Dun Ruah, Book 1 (2 page)

Fact File on Owls

Not all owls hoot. They screech, whistle, bark, click and hiss. Their calls can be heard up to a mile away. Baby owls make snoring sounds when looking for food.

Owls have no teeth. They swallow their prey whole and twelve hours later cough up the feathers, bones and fur in football-shaped pellets.

Unable to move their eyes, owls turn their entire heads to see in different directions. They rotate their heads up to 270 degrees.

Owls have specialised feathers with fringes to muffle sound when they fly.

The tufts of feathers on top of owls' heads are for display only. Owls' ears are hidden on the facial disc behind the eyes. They can open and close their ears.

Owls have long, hooked bills. Concealed by feathers, the bills look smaller than they are.

The owl's flattened, facial disk funnels sound to its ears and magnifies it up to ten times. They hear noises humans can't detect and can hear a mouse 60 feet away.

An owl has three eyelids: one for blinking, one for sleeping and one for keeping the eye clean and healthy.

A barn owl can eat up to 1,000 mice each year, and farmers like to attract them.

Owls have zygodactyl feet with two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backward. This gives them a stronger grip.

Most female owls are larger, more aggressive and often more richly coloured than their male counterparts.

A group of owls is called a parliament, wisdom or study.

Blue Owls are extremely rare but an Irish teenager called Simon Macken claims to have one living in his loft.