Have you ever seen a barn owl? If you have, don’t feel too special – they live everywhere. But you do have cause to feel lucky, because they’re hard to spot. Like most owls, they’re active at night and fly silently thanks to the fluffy edges of their flight feathers, which dampen the sound of air passing around their wings.
They like to live near nice open swaths of land. Farmland and marshes and the like offer perfect territory to sweep silently over, scanning for movement with incredibly sensitive eyes. Like a thunderbolt from the skies the owl drops upon a hapless vole, skewering it with sharp, curving talons.
If you’ve ever had a hamster or rat, or other pokey little rodent as a pet, you might be interested to know that predators like the barn owl are the reason that they move the way they move. That quick dash, sudden stop pattern is in hopes that when an owl looks in your direction there won’t be any movement that it can latch onto.
Barn owls are awesome, sure, but you already gave your heart to Hedwig. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this infographic on the magic of the snowy owl.