🦉 Owls!

What you’ll learn

1. The Secret of Silent FlightDiscover how owls fly silently using special comb-edged, soft feathers and big wings, and why silence helps them hunt.Owls fly in near silence thanks to comb-like teeth on the front of their wing feathers and soft, fluffy feathers that muffle sound, plus big wings that flap slowly. This silence lets owls sneak up on sharp-eared prey like mice and hear them better. Interestingly, fishing owls do not need silent wings.
2. Heads That Turn Almost All the WayLearn why and how owls turn their heads so far, including their locked eyes, extra neck bones, and special blood vessels.Owls turn their heads about three quarters of the way around because their tube-shaped eyes are locked in place and cannot move. Fourteen neck bones and special blood vessels let them twist safely. They also bob their heads to judge distance, all so they can watch for prey in every direction.
3. Super Eyes and Amazing EarsExplore the owl's huge night-seeing eyes and its amazing hearing, including lopsided ears and the sound-catching facial disk.Owls have enormous eyes that gather light to see in the dark and incredibly sharp hearing. Many owls have lopsided ears set at different heights, letting them pinpoint a sound's exact location, even a mouse tunneling under snow. Their flat, dish-shaped facial disk funnels sound to their ears like a satellite dish.
4. Owls Big and SmallMeet different kinds of owls, from the tiny elf owl to the great grey, snowy, barn, and great horned owls.There are over two hundred kinds of owls. The elf owl is the smallest, nesting in cactus holes, while the fluffy great grey owl is one of the tallest. Snowy owls live in the Arctic, barn owls have heart-shaped faces, and mighty great horned owls have feather tufts. Each owl fits its own habitat.
5. Pellets: Be an Owl ScientistLearn what owl pellets are, how they form, and how studying them lets you discover what an owl ate.Owls swallow prey whole and cough up the bones and fur they cannot digest in bundles called pellets. Scientists, and students, can pull pellets apart to find tiny bones and skulls that reveal exactly what the owl ate. Studying pellets shows how owls help farmers and nature by eating many mice and rats.
6. Night Hunters Around the WorldDiscover where owls live around the world, why most hunt at night, and how we can help protect them.Owls live on almost every continent except Antarctica, in deserts, forests, grasslands, and cities. Most are nocturnal masters of the night, though a few like snowy and burrowing owls hunt by day. Owls use camouflage to hide while resting, have inspired human stories for ages, and need our help protecting their homes.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• National Audubon Society
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• National Geographic
• Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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