![\"burrowing](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/burrowing-owl-4067b-ron-dudley.jpg\")
1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThe crisp flight feathers of most birds make a very noticeable gushing noise as they pass through the air, as anyone who has been close to a bird in flight as it flaps its wings is well aware. This would be a distinct and obvious disadvantage for nocturnal hunters like owls who hunt by stealth\u00a0at night. But one edge of most owl flight feathers is fimbriate (fringe-like) rather than “crisp” (imagine the fringe on the edge of a scarf). This fringe breaks down the air turbulence into\u00a0small groups called micro-turbulences that effectively muffle the sound produced\u00a0as\u00a0air rushes over the wing surface and allows owls to fly silently. One theory suggests that the fringing actually transforms the sound energy to a higher frequency that most critters, including humans and\u00a0prey, cannot hear. Silent flight allows owls to use their own hearing to stealthily locate prey at night.<\/p>\n
The position of the wings and the relative\u00a0sharpness of their tips in this image\u00a0allow\u00a0us to see the fringing on the tips of at least four of the flight feathers of the right wing. I’m sure that many of my readers are well aware of this characteristic of owls but I thought it was interesting to see the fringing in a wild bird in flight.<\/p>\n
The effectiveness of the fringing is dramatic\u00a0and education birds are often used to demonstrate\u00a0that fact\u00a0to the audience. Typically the educator first\u00a0holds a hawk or falcon on the fist as the bird is raised and lowered causing it to flap its wings.\u00a0The noise produced by the wings is loud and can be\u00a0distinctly heard some distance away. Then the very same thing is done with an owl and when it flaps its wings in response there is virtually no\u00a0sound produced.<\/p>\n
Folks who see this demonstration are usually quite impressed by the contrast. When it was done for my Zoology and Utah Wildlife\u00a0students when I was teaching it definitely left an impression.<\/p>\n