Owls' natural makeup makes them nature's wonder

"How do owls turn their head all around?" asked Valerie Manuel, 8, a third-grader at W.C. Petty Elementary School in Antioch.

The owl soars to the top of the class in the subject of neat tricks. Nature has designed the owl to be an excellent predator, able to silently swoop through a thick forest at night to grab unsuspecting prey.

An owl's eyes are huge.

"Instead of having an eyeball in a socket, just the lens covers the socket. They can't move their eyes," said Dan Powell, lead keeper at the Brookfield Zoo's Children's Zoo and Hamill Family Play Zoo.

This design allows for the maximum amount of light to penetrate the eye, even in the darkest of nights.

You'd think that immovable eyes would limit an owl's field of vision. But here's where nature's bag of tricks come into play.

The owl's neck is very flexible, and when the owl turns its head, it gains the ability to see in all directions. Just like magicians give the appearance of executing impossible feats, it appears that owls turn their heads completely around.

"What owls do is amazing," Powell said. "They can flip their head down and swivel it forward so they can see behind. They can turn 270 degrees -- three quarters of the clock."

Powell said this gives the impression that they can fully turn their heads 360 degrees.

Did you think those tufts on the top of their heads were ears?

"Feather tufts break up the outline as a method of camouflage," Powell said.

When an owl perches high up on a tree branch, its jagged outline fools prey into thinking the owl is simply a cluster of leaves.

Like many animals, owls have an excellent sense of hearing. Feathers around the eyes cup sound and direct it toward their ears, which are located behind the eyes.

Nature threw in another trick -- owls are nearly silent when they fly. Think about the sounds that ducks make during take off -- the flapping catches air and makes a deep thumping sound.

Owl feathers are "branched," or uneven. Owls can cruise silently through the night in search of a good meal.

Like many animals that live in the shelter of the forest or near places with lots of trees, owls are losing their nesting ground. Even owls in your area might have to change their hunting patterns when healthy trees are removed.

Owls are magnificent animals, but don't try to keep one as a pet. It's against the law. Tex, a great horned owl, came to Brookfield Zoo 20 years ago when an owl lover had to give up his pet.

Because Tex was not raised by an owl mother, he never learned how to hunt. Instead, keepers serve him his meals.

For more information

The Fox Lake District Library suggests these book titles on owls:

• "Owlet, The Great Horned Owl," by Irene Brady

• "Owls," by Gail Gibbons

• "Owls," by Bobbie Kalman

• "Peterson Field Guides For Young Naturalists: Birds of Prey," by Jonathan P. Latimer

• "The Book of North American Owls," by Helen Roney Sattler

You wanted to know

Valerie Manuel of Antioch asked:

"How do owls turn their head all around?"

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