It’s often a fool’s errand to assign motivation to unexplained bird behaviors so in this case I won’t make any claims. But I have to wonder if this young owl might have been experimenting with its eyesight.
I’ve been yammering for years about the advantages to bird photographers of being familiar with the behaviors of our subjects. Here’s yet another example.
Three days ago I found a covey of California Quail down by the Jordan River. I watched them forage for food for a while and then something interesting happened.