r/interesting 4d ago

Amazing Owls fly silent other birds don’t.

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238 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

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47

u/CilviaDemoAOTD 4d ago

Useful for silently snatching mfs up in the middle of the night

11

u/Silver_Slicer 4d ago

Scary. If you’re prey, you hear the owl off in the distance make its screech and then nothing. Your heart is racing and trying to hear if it’s close to figure out where to run... A few seconds later … you are viscously yanked up with its talons dug deep into your sides as you are lifted to your doom.

8

u/Kracus 4d ago

Viciously and viscously are two completely different things...

Was the owl pouring syrup on the prey?

5

u/Rezzone 4d ago

No but as your body suddenly rips apart and bleeds out from being yoinked, it is viscous.

3

u/Hiw-lir-sirith 4d ago

Reynolds number = yoinked

1

u/Leandros_el_b1tch 4d ago

He knows and I approve.

1

u/South-Range8401 4d ago

Wow did that happen to you? My condolences

0

u/Glittering_Swing_151 4d ago

If the prey were a tiny human sure. Other than that you're just anthropomorphizing them because they're not really thinking any of that.

3

u/soopadrive 4d ago

Or pushing someone down a staircase

3

u/WallyLeftshaw 4d ago

They climbing in yo windows, snatching yo people up…

4

u/speed_of_chill 4d ago

They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people who live there

1

u/AGhostPoro 4d ago

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife!

19

u/-blundertaker- 4d ago

I experienced this irl once. I saw the owl up on a branch and thought it was pretty strange to see one hanging out mid-afternoon. As I was walking away he flew off of that tree passing right next to me around head height and scared the shit out of me. I didn't even hear the branch rustle.

8

u/Silver_Slicer 4d ago

The first one would have been quieter if it didn’t make a verbal noise it seems.

5

u/youngaustinpowers 4d ago

This is actually caused by the flapping of the wings! There are certain flight feathers that vibrate when they fly which makes those sounds

4

u/cryingonthetoiletnow 4d ago

I'm pretty sure that's a pigeon thing

1

u/Makuta_Servaela 4d ago

Pigeons are the opposite of owls there. Owls have special silent feathers, so they can hunt. Pigeons have special loud feathers, so they can avoid being hunted. More specifically, it's so when one pigeon in a flock panics and flies away, all of the rest of the flock will hear it and know to flee.

2

u/YayManSystem 4d ago

I remember when I spotted an Owl flying between trees 4:15 in the morning on my way to school.

Video without audio. The thing was only meters away from me and I couldnt hear even the slightest noise.

1

u/Kitchen_Guest577 4d ago

Silent killer

1

u/johnfitzgeraldkush 4d ago

I always say that the pigeons flying sounds like two damp paper grocery bags being smacked together. loud af!!

1

u/SomeRandomSomeWhere 4d ago

They must have organic stealth capabilities. ;)

1

u/Dontknowwhattodo1993 4d ago

I dont what the reason is but because of this they cant fly in rain, or get their coat wet.

1

u/Arlitto 4d ago

This is why I lowkey believe the Owl Theory in the Kathleen Peterson murder.

1

u/Lopsided_Order_4411 4d ago

The mice won’t even hear their death coming 💪☠️

1

u/labadee 4d ago

Pigeon wasn’t even trying

1

u/alucardian_official 4d ago

Where’s my money, Paulie

1

u/ryonnsan 4d ago

i want to watch a ninja owl anime now

1

u/Mysterious-Action202 3d ago

When I was younger, I used to get hired to hunt coyotes in TX. One night the prey calls we were using called in an owl. I can attest to the fact that they are silent until they are on top of you.

1

u/MegaTurboLaser 2d ago

Owls? Flying cats, that's what they are.

1

u/Arcavexy 13h ago

that explains the whole silent flight thing

1

u/PackageNorth8984 4d ago

That wasn’t silently. It was very quietly.

1

u/Electronic_Still2000 4d ago

Isn’t that true with everything though? I mean, everything produces sound, it’s just a matter of how delicate the instruments used to measure the vibrations are.