It turns out that cottontail bunnies have more to worry about in the neighborhood than just hawks and coyotes.
As my husband and I were walking the dogs this morning, we found a Great Horned Owl wing feather lying next to the sidewalk. This stealthy hunter takes birds, skunks, mice — and rabbits.
And owls do so silently. The tailing edge of their wing feathers are frayed, preventing the air from generating noise-producing turbulence as it passes over and under the wing.
But scientists have recently discovered another adaptation on feathers that helps owls keep quiet as they fly — a comb-like set of barbules on the leading edge of the feathers. These small structures “break up the turbulent air that typically creates a swooshing sound. Those smaller streams of air are further dampened by a velvety texture unique to owl feathers and by a soft fringe on a wing’s trailing edge. These structures together streamline the air flow and absorb the sound produced.” (https://www.audubon.org/news/the-silent-flight-owls-explained)
After whipping out my trusty camera and snapping these photos, I left the feathers by the sidewalk. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty, it is illegal to collect any native birds or their feathers for any reason.
Whoa…so THAT’S what an owl feather looks like, eh? What cool info about the feather adaptation. Yesterday we encountered a couple of bunnies at Sprouts on 38th on our walk. Elsa decided she could rival any owl or coyote in the neighborhood. That girl is quick like a bunny but probably needs to work on her zig/zag technique (course having me as ballast didn’t help but did manage to save both bunnies). 😇 Luckily no circle of life scene played out.
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I know, right? Love to let them run and chase; hate for them to catch anything. So we let them dislocate our shoulders, instead.
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🤣 What…you don’t like being a human kite?
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When my son was 8, I let him walk our German shephard-whippet mix home from school. All went well until she saw a squirrel. My son still has scars on his elbow. But he smiles when he tells the story of when he went flying.
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What a cool post full of awesome pics and info. Thank you, Amy! 🙂
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