Consider the Barn Owl

When I step out on the porch at night or when walking to the car in the early morning darkness, I hear an owl hooting. We live on the outskirts of town and there are many trees, so this is not surprising. I've never heard one in nature before. However, it is not the subject of the post because barn owls do not hoot.

Credit: Unsplash / Joshua J. Cotten

These birds are widely distributed and can be found on most continents. The name is simple enough, because they like to nest in barns. Farmers like them because these hunters help themselves to rodents. (I heard that they were also called church owls, but atheists probably sued someone over the name.) Ever notice the "heart"-shaped face? It is a part of the elaborate mechanism that the Creator used when designing their sensitive and accurate hearing ability.

The valentine face of a barn owl is not just for decoration. It actually helps him find dinner. The two sides of this distinctive facial disk serve as sound collectors, which direct sound toward the barn owl’s two ears, located behind each eye. The stiff, dense facial feathers help focus the sounds even better toward each ear. This system works so well that barn owls can pick out the sound of a timid mouse rustling 75 feet away.

You can finish reading this extremely short article by clicking on "Barn Owl & Heart-Shaped Hearing".