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Some Facts & Myths Regarding Raptors
Myth: Owls can turn their heads all the way through 360º
Fact: No they can't. Owls cannot move their eyes in their sockets at all, but thanks to extra vertebrae in their necks they can turn their heads instead, but only through a maximum of 270º. For a fuller explanation, see section on owls' heads.
Myth: Owls are wise
Fact: To put it kindly, owls are no wiser than they need to be, i.e. not very. This myth has probably come into being for two reasons. Firstly, the owl has large, forward-facing eyes and looks intelligent. The second is that the Greek goddess Pallas Athene (who was the deity for many things from wisdom to carpentry) had the little owl as one of her emblems. This owl, which has the Latin name Athene Noctua, is no wiser than any other but because of its association with the goddess of wisdom ancient folks thought they'd improve their own intelligence by introducing its attributes into their own persons. In other words they ate it, but not knowing which particular part of the bird contained the desired source of wisdom, they opted to eat the bird whole! No mention is made of anyone similarly seeking to increase their carpentry skills by scoffing down a little owl, but if they did it probably resulted with the same spectacular lack of success.
Myth: Golden Eagles kill sheep
Fact: While there is no doubt that these birds take some new-born lambs, they are simply not powerful enough to kill a full-grown sheep. However, like all birds of prey they will always take advantage of carrion and may be seen eating from a sheep carcass. The incorrect assumption is often that the bird has killed the sheep and persecution then follows. But what many farmers fail to realize is that if left alone, a pair of Golden Eagles will kill enough rabbits in one year to enable the farmer to graze an extra 11 sheep.
Myth: Owls can see in total darkness
Fact: It is a physical impossibility for eyes to see where there is no light. However, owls are able to see in conditions where there is next to no light, and for a fuller explanation, see the section on owls' eyes.
Myth: There are currently too many sparrow hawks in the UK
Fact: Nature does not allow such imbalances between predator and prey - it's only when we put our size 9s in that such things get fouled up. A population of any given predator is strictly governed by the population of its prey species: if the prey numbers drop then so will their predators' as there is less to eat and the weaker or less efficient individuals fall by the wayside. The reverse is equally true: a good supply in prey will sustain a larger population of predators. So to say that the decline in the songbird population in the UK is solely attributable to their being too many sparrowhawks is complete, unthinking rubbish as such a situation could simply not exist.
Myth: Large birds of prey have killed people.
Fact: to the best of our knowledge, there is not one recorded instance of this. Probably the most powerful bird of prey today, the Philippine Eagle is also known as the Monkey-Eating Eagle as it is large enough to snatch small monkeys and sloths from the branches of trees in the rainforests. But that's as much as it can cope with. While it would be perhaps within its physical capability to take a baby or small toddler, this bird along with all the others has a healthy fear of man and the likelihood of such an event happening is stretching the imagination. There have been legends of eagles swooping down and carrying off small children, but again this is unlikely in the extreme given the fact that, aside from its fear of mankind, an eagle of whatever size would be incapable of lifting such a weight into the air. Raptors cannot carry much weight and consequently eat most of their catch on the ground.
Myth: Males are larger than females
Fact: While there are one or two species where there is little difference in size between the sexes, in all other cases the female is larger than the male, weighting up to as much as a third more again than the male in the case of falcons. This difference is thought to be for two reasons. Firstly, the female needs to be larger to defend the nest. Secondly, the size difference enables the sexes to catch different prey both in order to provide more for the nest during the breeding season and to ensure the sexes are not always competing directly with each other at other times. The male, being more agile, can catch more maneuverable prey which would evade the female while the female can take on larger prey than the male could cope with. |
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