Nat Geo - In an Exorcist-style display of flexibility, owls can rotate their necks a maximum of 270 degrees without breaking blood vessels or tearing tendons.
To the untrained eye, it looks like a case of movie magic, but scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now have data to explain the eerie skill that has baffled birders for years. (Check out National Geographic’s backyard bird identifier.)
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Whereas people and other animals can simply move their eyes to follow
an object or use peripheral vision to scan a room, owls must turn their
heads for the same effect. These birds
have fixed eye sockets, which means their eyeballs can’t rotate,
forcing them to stretch their necks—a seemingly supernatural feat.
“In the case of birds, their systems are designed to handle that amount of movement,” said Eric Forsman, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, who was not part of the study.
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“In the case of birds, their systems are designed to handle that amount of movement,” said Eric Forsman, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, who was not part of the study.
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