WEBVTT - Why Are We So Obsessed with Owls?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. Owls are birds of

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<v Speaker 1>prey that hunt at night. We hardly ever see them

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<v Speaker 1>because when the hawks and falcons of the daytime world

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<v Speaker 1>clock out, the owls clock in on silent, fluffy edged

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<v Speaker 1>stealth wings. They hunt small nocturnal animals while it's dark,

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<v Speaker 1>occasionally hooting or screaming at each other through the night.

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<v Speaker 1>Then when the sun shows up again, they repair to

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<v Speaker 1>their favorite roost and let the other raptors go about

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<v Speaker 1>their business of eating day creatures. And yet we humans,

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<v Speaker 1>notorious day dwellers, pay a lot of attention to these

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<v Speaker 1>night birds. For the article this episode is based on,

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<v Speaker 1>has to Work, spoke with Denver Holt, the founder and

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<v Speaker 1>lead researcher of the Owl Research Institute based in Charlo, Montana.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, owls are probably one of the most widely

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<v Speaker 1>recognized groups of animals in the world. They're in all cultures,

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<v Speaker 1>no matter how far back you go. There's always art

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<v Speaker 1>or myths or stories about owls. They're on our corporate logos,

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<v Speaker 1>sports logos. Products use them to advertise their on castle

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<v Speaker 1>walls and churches. I have a Greek coin that dates

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<v Speaker 1>back to four d b C with an owl on it.

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<v Speaker 1>Even cave art in what's now France, the dates back

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<v Speaker 1>around thirty thousand years contains an etching of an owl.

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<v Speaker 1>So what is it about owls? They're not super conspicuous birds,

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<v Speaker 1>just like moles aren't super conspicuous rodents. But you don't

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<v Speaker 1>see us going around putting moles faces all over tutsie

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<v Speaker 1>pop wrappers and trip Advisor billboards. But owls are pretty cool.

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<v Speaker 1>Although they are birds of prey, they're more closely related

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<v Speaker 1>to mousebirds and kingfishers than eagles, hawks, or falcons. However,

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<v Speaker 1>they also feel the exact ecological niche as these other

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<v Speaker 1>hunting birds, except they evolved to be terrifying night killers

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<v Speaker 1>instead of terrifying they killers. Owls are masters of camouflage,

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<v Speaker 1>even though they share that ecological niche with other raptors.

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<v Speaker 1>The day shift sees owls as a food source just

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<v Speaker 1>as much as a rabbit or a squirrel. They use

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<v Speaker 1>their feathers to help them blend in with their surroundings

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<v Speaker 1>and hide from predators. Another aspect of an owl's mystique

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<v Speaker 1>is in their eyes. They have to be large in

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<v Speaker 1>order to see in the dark, and at this point

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<v Speaker 1>in their evolution, a significant portion of what's inside an

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<v Speaker 1>owl's skull is straight up eyeball. Their eyes are cylindrical

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<v Speaker 1>and they extend all the way to the back of

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<v Speaker 1>their head. You can even see a portion of their

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<v Speaker 1>eyeballs through their ear holes, and their eyes can't roll

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<v Speaker 1>around in their heads, which means that an owl's head

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<v Speaker 1>has to do most of the rolling around work. It's

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<v Speaker 1>for this reason that they can swivel their heads entirely

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<v Speaker 1>around on their necks. Another thing owls have to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to do at night is here. An owl's night

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<v Speaker 1>vision can only get them so far, so they require

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<v Speaker 1>their auditory sense to get them where they need to

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<v Speaker 1>be while hunting, which is where they're big, round faces

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<v Speaker 1>and lopsided ears come in a while. The feathers on

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<v Speaker 1>the top of some owl species heads look like ears,

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<v Speaker 1>those actually serve a function more akin to eyebrows. Their

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<v Speaker 1>ears are large openings on the sides of their heads.

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<v Speaker 1>One ear is always lower than the other, which helps

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<v Speaker 1>them triangulate sound. A noise will go into one ear

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit before it arrives in the other to

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<v Speaker 1>better tell which direction that noise is coming. From to

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<v Speaker 1>make their sense of hearing even keener. An owl's entire

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<v Speaker 1>face acts as a sort of satellite dish for sound waves.

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<v Speaker 1>Their beaks are tiny to keep out of the way,

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<v Speaker 1>and the circular depressions around their huge eyes boost their

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<v Speaker 1>ability to snag the sound of a mouse scurrying beneath

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<v Speaker 1>the snow like a catcher's mit. Also, there are the

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<v Speaker 1>noises that owls themselves make, from haunting hoots to a barn,

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<v Speaker 1>owl's horrific shrieks, its horror movie stuff, and a shriek

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<v Speaker 1>owls cry like a very lonely and distressed dog. So

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<v Speaker 1>piecing the evidence together nocturnal winged killing machines with incredible

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<v Speaker 1>night seeing powers, of preternatural sense of hearing, and a

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<v Speaker 1>bizarre vocal repertoire, you can see why they've inspired so

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<v Speaker 1>many myths and superstitions, and these stories are a mixed bag,

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<v Speaker 1>though many of them were unflattering. One ancient Greek and

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<v Speaker 1>Roman superstition indicated that owls were witches in disguise and

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<v Speaker 1>would suck the blood right out of your baby, But

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<v Speaker 1>the same cultures also believed owls to be connected to Athena,

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<v Speaker 1>the powerful and influential goddess of wisdom and warfare. Her

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<v Speaker 1>ancient Sumerian precursor was Lilith, who was depicted as a

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<v Speaker 1>horned talent goddess surrounded by owls in a four thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>three hundred year old Sumerian tablet. While Asian cultures largely

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<v Speaker 1>considered owls to be good, protective spirits and disguise, most

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<v Speaker 1>other cultures around the world considered owls to be the

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<v Speaker 1>bringers of witchcraft, illness, and death. But why owls, which

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<v Speaker 1>ordinarily stay out of our way and even manage our

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<v Speaker 1>rodent past population, Holtz said, If we have strong feelings

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<v Speaker 1>about owls, maybe it's because they look like us. They've

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<v Speaker 1>got a large head of flat face, big eyes, a

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<v Speaker 1>symmetry about their mouth and nose. We tend to be

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<v Speaker 1>attracted and repelled by animals that are morphologically similar to us.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article why are we

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<v Speaker 1>so Fascinated with Owls? On how Stuff Works dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>written by Jescelyn Shields. The brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot

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<v Speaker 1>Com and is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>my Heart Radio visit the i heart radio, app, Apple podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.