Another evening of taxidermy brought me nose-to-beak with another arctic owl. Figuratively, of course. Even though I'm lucky to have housemates that allow me to commandeer the living room occasionally for these dissections, I still have the common sense to keep a healthy distance between my face and any dead animal.
But if I had literally come nose-to-beak, I would have felt the prickle and tickle of bristle feathers belonging to this Great Grey Owl.
There were so many feathers that I could hardly see the characteristic yellow beak buried underneath. Unlike other feathers, the bristles around the beak lack a branching vane that normally catches air for flight or warmth. The stiff bristle shaft is stripped of any branching and stands erect around the beak.
Insect-eating birds like flycatchers have these bristles, too. Around the beak, they act like a net to funnel insects into the birds' mouth. Woodpeckers have bristle feathers around their eyes for protection from flying slivers of wood as the bird excavates a hole.
An owl's bristle feathers are thought to act more like whiskers. Owls tend to be farsighted and have trouble seeing up close. The bristles are the bird's tactile guide. I have seen the difference those feathers make when working with live owls. Even a hungry bird would ignore a piece of food held right in front of his beak, but he would grab it quickly once I moved it close enough to tickle the bristle feathers.
As I sewed up the second wing of this beautiful bird, I had to check out other parts of its anatomy before I cleaned up the taxidermy kit. Perhaps most amazing was the Great Grey Owl's neck. I measured from the head to the tip of the tail and she landed at 25 inches on my tape measure, an impressive size for the tallest owl in North America. I then reached through a thick coat of down feathers to feel the neck, measuring a whopping 6 inches: that's 24% of her body length! If I had the same proportions, my neck would be 16.5 inches long!
I also found the owl's incredibly impressive ear (and window to the back of the eye). The ear opening measured an astounding 1.5 inches! All the better to locate mice under a foot of snow.
As I "oohed and aahed" over the grey feathers, I noticed an interesting molt pattern. The freshest feathers were dark grey, while older feathers were worn, tattered, and faded to light brown.
Finally, I broke out the macro mode on my camera to appreciate the eyelash-like texture on the first wing feather. This fringe divides air as it moves over the wing, allowing the owl to fly completely silently.
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