The Night Hunter
- Details
- Created: Tuesday, 07 February 2012 00:00
- Written by Nadia O’Carroll
Owls are distinctive birds. Their forward facing, staring eyes; dished face: stealth and nocturnal life, which give them an aura of wisdom, power and mystery, are also attributes of an extremely sophisticated night hunter.
Owl eyes are adapted to night vision. Their eyes are large (up to 5% of body weight), and forward facing for binocular vision. Instead of eyeballs, their eyes are like tubes held in place by bony rings, the pupil of an owl can dilate to the very edge of the eye for maximum light exposure. Owls cannot move their eyes; they can only look straight ahead. To overcome this restriction, their neck is extremely flexible. Owls have fuzzy, low colour vision that is effective in low light and is highly sensitive to movement.