35 Interesting Facts About Owls
There are more than 200 species of owls. They are present in all parts of the earth except Antarctica and a few remote islands. The oldest known fossil of an owl is the 60-million-year-old leg bone. The almost complete owl fossil is 55 million years old. ( Source ) Owls are divided into two families : typical owls and barn owls. The most prominent feature of barn owls is their heart-shaped facial disc. Owls are the most famous nocturnal (active during the night) birds . They can see better at night due to a large number of rods (used for better vision at night) compared to a few cones (used for color vision) in the retina of their eyes. Their large eyes also allow them to grasp a lot of light rays. ( Source ) However, not all owl species are nocturnal. Northern hawk owls and northern pygmy owls are the two completely diurnal (active during the day) species. Apart from them, few owl species are crepuscular (active at dawn or dusk). ( Source ) ...