Book Reviewed: What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

The world of a mysterious bird This book explores the life of owls, the enigmatic birds with their remarkable anatomy, biology, and behavior. Their hunting skills, stealth, and sensory prowess distinguish them from all other birds. Their flight is quiet, and hunting skills are unique. Owls exist on every continent except Antarctica, and in every form one can imagine. Some owls migrate but not in a predictable pattern. Owls eat everything from insects to possums, rabbits, and young deer. The author discusses how owls communicate, court, mate, and raise their young. The book is descriptive, but the discussions are not stimulating. Owls’ flexible necks help them to compensate for immobile, tube-like eyes. Unlike humans, birds can’t move their eyes in their sockets to look around. This is a worthwhile sacrifice for binocular vision, which helps owls to boost their depth of perception. Many species also have ears located at different heights on each side of the head allowing them to find the location of a prey. There is the housekeeping habit of eastern screech owls, which “bring live blind snakes to their nestlings, not just for food, but perhaps to keep their nests tidy and sanitary. The small snakes live alongside the young owlets, eating parasites, insect larvae and other bothersome houseguests. The nestlings with live-in blind snakes are more likely to survive and grow fifty per cent faster than broods without snakes. This is an excellent adaptation to an efficient pest control and protecting the chicks. Burrowing Owls live in underground burrows, sometimes alongside prairie dogs, and when threatened, will hiss like a cornered rattlesnake.