Owl Eyes

What do owls and human babies have in common? Naps! And, it turns out, more…

This little guy (or gal) was so sleepy. One eye open. One eye closed. Was this a wink? It felt like we were sharing a moment. Could he (or she) see me as well as I could see it? Before I knew it both eyes closed on me. I panned over to mom and her’s were closed too. I guess they were getting some shut-eye in before the nocturnal hunt… It made me wonder about their binocular vision.

As it turns out an owl’s pupils dilate when they hear a new or odd noise. The link between sight and hearing enhances an owl’s hunting skills. And over thousands of years, they shed the genes for seeing colors and during daylight and instead developed the genes to refine their nocturnal vision.

But what does this have to do with human babies? Turns out that hearing loss is hard to diagnose in babies. But one researcher discovered that a baby’s pupils -like an owl’s- dilate when they hear an odd or new sound. This discovery led to new diagnostic tests for hearing loss in babies.

The other fun thing I watched was a squirrel checking out the owls. Let me tell you those owls did not react one bit with how close the squirrel got. Are they not prey? Great Horned owls will hunt prey as large as a skunk, but apparently squirrels are of no interest. I guess there’s more research to do.

Thanks for checking it out with me and being curious.

(P.S. Can you spot dad?)