87 Fascinating Facts About Owls

If your kids are obsessed with owls, then you’ll definitely want to check out this list of Facts About Owls. Owls are fascinating creatures, with so many interesting characteristics that your kids will love to discover. Your kids are sure to find some new owl facts that they can’t wait to share with their friends.

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Owls are incredible birds. An owl recently made a nest in one of our neighbor’s trees. My kids were full of questions. We spent so much time looking up owls facts and learning as much as we could about them. Facts are some of their favorite things to memorize, constantly showing off at the grocery store or school. This list of facts about owls will come in handy when your kids want to show off all their knowledge about these incredible birds.

We also have Facts About Eagles, if you want to learn more about the fascinating world of birds.

For more facts, be sure to check out our Facts About Mexico, Facts About France or Facts About Cats lists.

We love introducing our kids to facts because it allows them to always have something interesting to tell someone. They make perfect ice breakers and are a great way to connect with new friends when they are just getting to know one another.

Facts About Owls

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There is over 200 species of owls
Owls are nocturnal (meaning they are more lively at night)
Owls have binocular vision
Owls have binaural hearing
Owls are silent flyers

Owls have incredible hearing
It is their feathers that help them be silent flyers
Fun fact: not all owls hoot.
Some owls stay close to the ground
Their eyeballs are tube shaped and are immobile allow full focus and boosts their depth perception

Owls can turn they neck turn their necks to 270 degrees
Owls eat more insects, small mammals and small birds
Their claws are called talons
Their talons help them catch their prey (their food)
Owls are symbolic for wisdom, change and good luck

Their eyes can pinpoint their prey in seconds and help them have hyper focus to be able to catch them
Owls senses are much stronger than ours
Owls hunt for their food at night
Owls can hoot to protect their territory
Owls have super hearing

Owls can swallow their prey whole
They throw up the indigestible bits ( you can dissect them!)
Owls do eat other owls
Owls know their strongest baby and will feed that one first
Owls are scared of loud noises (alarms, horn, whistles)

Owls can live anywhere from 4 years to 15 years.
70% of owls die in the first year of their life
Owls hoot to others owls to warn them of danger
The burrowing owl is only pint size.
They can swivel their toes

Barn owls swallow their prey whole, bones and all.
Owls are one of the smartest bird species
Owls have asymmetrical ears
They are very curious animals
Owls are very logical creatures

They are naturally deep thinkers
They have powerful legs
Owls have four talons
One of their talons can rotate like a human thumb.
They have hooked beaks

Their hearing is one of the best
Captive owls still act on their natural instincts
Most owls prefer not to be petted or cuddled
The tawny owl is the loudest owl that can shriek and hoot
Owls can not smell and rely a lot on their vision

Owls are associated with supernatural abilities
Barn owls mate for life
Owls will go back to their same nest
Owls, when in a relationship, make courtship rituals (flights, calls to one another etc)
Owls offer each other food when together.

Owls create bonds with their mates
Night time is used mostly for hunting food.
Owls do not have teeth
Owls use their hooked beaks break and hold their prey.
Owls crush the skulls of their prey

Owls will hoot a specific way to call their mate to communicate.
Owls do cry. It is more of a scream they a cry though (whistles, barks, shrieks)
Owls can hiss
Owls express love through cheek rubbing and bill fencing
Owls flirt by giving the other owl dead mice and screeching

Owls have correlation to the afterlife.
Owls are very talkative birds. They enjoy communicating.
Owls are self aware.
Owls can recognize themselves in the mirror (barn owls)
Owls when threaten the become slimmer and pull themselves in tightly and will stand straight up.

Owls see in limit color.
Owls incubate their eggs anywhere from 30 – 37 days
When owls mate dies, the other will stay in their home territory and wait for another mate
Owls claim territories
Owls will not breed if there is not enough food for that year

Owls lay anywhere from one to fourteen eggs
Owls do sleep standing up
Owls favorite shelter is a hollow trees
Owls sleep around a total of 12 hours a day
They often sleep in short naps through the day to keep the recharge

Owls are zygodactyl
Owls never lose their hearing
Owls can hears higher frequencies, higher than any human and most animals can hear
Owls can swim but prefer not to
When angry, owls let out a clacking sound by snapping their beak together

Owls can and do play dead when stressed out
Great horn owls’ weight capacity is about five pounds for picking up their prey
Owls are known to take cats, small dogs and chickens.
Owls cannot fly if their wings get wet
Owls can see during the day time

Owls keep one eye closed to block out light
You will start seeing more baby owls around April and May

How many fascinating facts about owls can you come up with off the top of your head? Do you know more owl facts than we missed? Add them in the comments so we can add them to the list!

87 Fascinating Facts About Owls

Facts About Owls

Are you looking for more fun and engaging facts to share with your family? Check out these other posts for more facts!

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