What comes to your mind when you hear and see an owl? Not a few say that the owl has a mystical aura. Even it is said that owls are always related to magicians and other mystical things. Even so it turns out that in some world cultures, silhouettes and mysterious figures of owls have different interpretations.
In ancient Greece, the owl was a representation of the form of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. While the Wardaman tribe in Australia has a spiritual belief that big owls are responsible for creating the world. Another case in Japan, owls for them is their night emperor. in charge of supervising and protecting villages.
In the phenomenal world of Harry Potter’s magic, owls have extraordinary functions, as the main means of communication between wizards.
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Both in the realm of myth and in the wild, owls together have a charm that is unmatched. Evolution has shaped the body and senses of owls to form them into precision hunters. Below are some interesting facts regarding owls, the beautiful and attractive mystical bird.
Two-Faced
Did you know that it turns out that owls are divided into two families based on the shape of their faces? The first type is Tytonidae, which is an owl with a heart shaped face. The second type is Strigidae, which is a traditional owl with a round face.
Have you ever noticed how flat their faces are? Apparently not without purpose, God created an owl face like that. The flat owl face is designed to direct sound to their ears so that it increases extra accuracy in finding their prey. If you want to know the taste, try cupping your hands behind your ears. What do you feel?
There is a fun fact, the Harry Potter pet owl, named Hedwig the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), is a traditional Strigidae type owl or a round face.
Head Rotates
The special characteristic of this owl is that almost everyone knows it, but do you know how they do it? It turns out that owls can turn their heads because they have a blood collection system in the body that supports their brains and eyes when they need to turn their necks. Awesome, right!
Even cooler, owls have 14 vertebrae to support their bodies. Did you know that the number of spine is twice the number of normal birds?
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Silent Hunter
In addition to its very unique flat face, owls also have special feathers that can dampen the sound of their wings. Because the sound of the wings is muted, the turbulence of the wings can be reduced and almost inaudible. Soft velvet down feathers provide further cushioning to reduce noise. All these special features in his body make them become super silent hunters.
Perfect Eyes
The most prominent special feature of the owl is their eyes. In fact, their eyes contribute up to 5% of their body weight. Their eyes are one of the most evolved parts of the body. Even the eyes of owls are often considered to have the best night vision compared to other night animals.
The owl’s eyes are not spherical, but are tubular which are held by a reinforced structure. Therefore, why they can only look ahead and have to turn their entire heads to look from side to side.
Another fun fact of the owl that is related to the eye is the color of the owl’s eye showing what time it is like to hunt. An owl with diurnal yellow eyes is an owl that likes to hunt during the day.
While the owl with orange eyes is a crepuscular who likes to hunt during dusk. Owls with brown or black eyes are very active at night and like to hunt at night.
Wow, how interesting are the facts regarding owls? It will definitely make you want to get to know the owl more closely and prove all the facts above right? So immediately arrange your visit schedule to Bali Safari Park and find out the truth of the facts above! Have fun!
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