White Owl #1

Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes; a hawk-like beak; a flat face; and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers, a facial disc, around... more

by Jack Zulli

Title

White Owl #1

Artist

Jack Zulli

Medium

Painting - Digital Art

Description

Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes; a hawk-like beak; a flat face; and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers, a facial disc, around each eye. The feathers making up this disc can be adjusted in order to sharply focus sounds that come from varying distances onto the owls' asymmetrically placed ear cavities. Most birds of prey sport eyes on the sides of their heads, but the stereoscopic nature of the owl's forward-facing eyes permits the greater sense of depth perception necessary for low-light hunting. Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets—as are those of other birds—so they must turn their entire head to change views. Owls can rotate their heads and necks as much as 270 degrees (135 degrees in either direction). Owls have fourteen neck vertebrae as compared to 7 in humans which makes their necks more flexible. As owls are farsighted, they are unable to see clearly anything within a few centimeters of their eyes. Caught prey can be felt by owls with the use of filoplumes—like feathers on the beak and feet that act as "feelers". Their far vision, particularly in low light, is exceptionally good.

The smallest owl—weighing as little as 31 grams (1 oz) and measuring some 13.5 centimetres (5 in)—is the Elf Owl (Micrathene whitneyi). Around the same diminutive length, although slightly heavier, are the lesser known Long-whiskered Owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi) and Tamaulipas Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium sanchezi).The largest owl by length is the Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), which measures around 70 cm (28 in) on average and can attain a length of 84 cm (33 in).However, the heaviest (and largest winged) owls are two similarly-sized eagle owls; the Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) and Blakiston's Fish Owl (B. blakistoni). These two species, which are on average about 2.53 cm (1.00 in) shorter in length than the Great Grey, can both attain a wingspan of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a weight of 4.5 kg (10 lb) in the largest females

Uploaded

February 28th, 2013