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10 Fun Facts About Owls

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There is something about owls that fascinates people. Perhaps it's because they're the cutest birds of prey; perhaps it's because they're one of the most mysterious. Either way, learn more about these beloved birds with these 10 fun facts:

Silent Flight

One reason owls may be labeled as mysterious is that they can fly through the sky without making a peep. Their feathers muffle noise and reduce sound when they're soaring through the air, so they often do so without anyone noticing.

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Owls in Love

Some types of owls, such as the boreal owl, like to stick with one mating partner, and they often raise their young together. The couple stays busy hunting for prey for their babies. But when prey is easy to find and doesn't require too much extra effort, both the mom and dad boreal owls are likely to go find themselves a little partner or two on the side.

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Eating Etiquette

When they eat their prey, owls don't exactly have the best table manners. They typically crush whatever they catch until it's dead and swallow it whole, bones and all. What the body can't digest, the owl throws back up in a pellet shape.

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Playing Favorites

While human parents claim they don't have favorite children, owls aren't quite so kind. When they don't have enough food for all of their young, they pick out the healthiest ones to feed and let the others starve.

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Eyes

Owls can't move their eyes, but they can turn their necks up to 270 degrees, aCC0rding to Audubon. When they rotate their heads, however, it cuts off their circulation, but they have a system that collects extra blood to keep their eyes, brain and other above the neck functions working correctly.

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Spotting Prey

Despite the fact that owls can't move their eyes, they have amazing vision. The Northern Hawk Owl, for example, can spot its prey up to half a mile away from its perch in the trees, aCC0rding to Audubon. This is how barn owls are able to catch and eat prey in total darkness.

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Hunting Each Other

What's the barred owl's most terrifying predator? Another owl. Great horned owls are at the top of the food chain, and while owls enjoy insects and small mammals, they also have some cannibalistic tendencies.

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Thieves

Most owls live in trees, but some, like the long-legged burrowing owl, actually live underground. While they may dig their own homes, they typically look for one already built by another creature, like a prairie dog, and take it over. ACC0rding to Mental Floss, they place dung all around the entrance of their newly-stolen homes and sit there all day waiting for dung beetles to eat.

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Pest Control

Farmers often dislike using poison to keep mice and other varmints out off their properties, because it's not safe for the other animals, both wild and domestic. As a matter of fact, eating mice that have consumed poison is often deadly for an owl. This is why many farmers go out of their way to welcome owls to their farms to keep pests, like gophers and mice, away. An average family of owls will eat 3,000 mice in four months, aCC0rding to Mental Floss.

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Parliament

You've heard of a murder of crows, but did you know a group of owls is called a parliament? The description comes from the CS Lewis book "The Chronicles of Narnia."