For thousands of years, the owl has been a creature to which people have attached special significance. Primitive people have many superstitions about the owl, chiefly because of the peculiar cries it makes.

In many parts of Europe when an owl is heard to hoot, it is considered a sign of death. In ancient Greece, the owl was a symbol of wisdom.

Owls of one species or another are found in all parts of the world. In the frozen arctic
districts, owls have snowy-white plumage which blends in with their surroundings and keeps them safe from their enemies. In parts of Texas there are owls so tiny they are no bigger than a sparrow, and they feed on grasshoppers and beetles.

The owl is a bird that really comes to life at night, and its whole body is especially suited to this kind of life. First, let’s take the owl’s hoot. When the owl utters this cry in the night, creatures who may be nearby are frightened by the sound. If they make any motion or sound, the owl hears them instantly with its sensitive ears.

The ears of an owl have a flap on the outside, unlike most other birds. Some owls have a kind of “trumpet” of feathers near the ears to help them hear better. Once the owl has startled its prey and heard its motion, it can see it even in the dark! There are two reasons for this remarkable ability. The eyeballs of the owl are elastic. It can focus them instantly for any istance. The owl can also open the pupil of it eye very wide. This enables it to make use of all the night light there is The owl’s eyes are placed so that it has to turn its whole head to change the direction of its glance. Even the owl’s feathers help it to hunt its food.

The feathers art so soft that the owl can fly noiselessly and thus swoop right down or the animals it hunts. Some owls are helpful to farmers because they destroy rats, insects, and other enemies of crops. But there are other owls that are fond of chickens and other domestic fowl, and these owls cost the farmer quite a bit of money!