Nocturnal owls have the most hearing receptors in their brains and they have asymmetrical different on each side ear openings. One opening is higher and one is lower to aid in locating prey at night.
Because of the difference in the location of the openings, an owl will hear a sound at two slightly different times. Owls have excellent hearing, and can even hear prey hiding in snow. Owls ' ears are located on the sides of their heads, behind their eyes. Though the tufts resemble ears, and are often called "ear tufts ," they are really just tufts of feathers.
They are nocturnal; they hunt at night and sleep during the day. A few hours after eating, they throw up pellets of fur, feathers, bones and other undigested parts of their meals. Great Horned Owls will puff out their feathers to make themselves look larger and more fierce. Because some owl species erect their ear tufts when alarmed by approaching danger while at the same time adopting a vertically elongate body shape different from their more rotund resting pose , it's been suggested that ear tufts help break up the owl's outline and make it appear more like a broken branch.
Where are owls ears located? Owl Ears. Because Owls are generally active at night, they have a highly developed auditory hearing system. The ears are located at the sides of the head, behind the eyes, and are covered by the feathers of the facial disc. The "Ear Tufts" visible on some species are not ears at all, but simply display feathers.
What are owl Tufts? Ear tufts are skin projections covered in feathers found in some bird species, most notably various species of owl, vaguely resembling mammalian ears, but unrelated to the animal's hearing. Their tufts, too, are just feathers, not horns.
Their coloring can vary depending on locale -- ash gray in the Pacific Northwest, brownish in the southwest and nearly white in Canada -- but the large, widely spaced tufts still identify them as great horned owls. While the large horned owl has similarly large tufts, they're placed closer together on their heads. Great gray owls, barn owls and barred owls have no tufts at all. She writes nationally for newspapers, magazines and websites on topics including careers, education, women, marketing, advertising and more.
She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. By using the site, you agree to the uses of cookies and other technology as outlined in our Policy, and to our Terms of Use. No Hearing Here Owls have excellent hearing, and can even hear prey hiding in snow. Helpful Hiding The mottled coloring of owls -- ranging from brownish to grayish -- helps them hide in the trees in which they nest.
The cat and Barn Owl have a similar sensitivity up to approximately 7 kHz. Beyond this point, the cat continues to be sensitive, but the Barn Owl's sensitivity declines sharply. Skull of a Boreal Owl showing asymmetric ear openings. The dish-shaped face of a Great Grey Owl. References: Campbell, Wayne. Axia Wildlife. Hollands, David. Reed Books. Yale University Press.
Long, Kim. Even young birds may show small ear tufts that can help with proper identification before they develop more mature markings. Many owls are known for their ear tufts, but they are not the only birds to possess these distinctive features. Other birds with have ear tufts include the horned lark, stitchbird, ring-necked pheasant, double-crested cormorant, tufted puffin, eared grebe, and the royal, rockhopper, macaroni, and several other crested penguin species.
The term ear tufts is universally understood and widely used, but these feather structures are also occasionally called horns or ears.
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