Is the owl trying to communicate something? Is this, perhaps, some kind of dance? All these varied head movements help the owl judge the position and distance of things around it—essentially, to triangulate on objects, including potential prey, and to build a composite picture of its surroundings.

24 inches tall

Which is the smartest owl?

• The research suggests that barn owls, with far simpler brains than humans and other primates, also group together different elements as they move in the same direction, to make sense of the world around them.
• What’s actually smarter than even eagles are vultures.

And to build a composite picture of its surroundings. This head-bobbing helps make up for an anatomical limitation: an owl’s eyes are fixed in position — they simply can’t move the way our eyes do. So to look up, down, or to the side, an owl has to move its head.

When confronted, Barn Owls sway their lowered head from side to side. To make their defensive display scary, Barn Owls hiss and clatter their beaks. Barn Owls can really be scary by swaying back and forth, shaking their heads while hissing and bowing at the same time.

It is an important part of raptor husbandry to encourage a good soaking. Bind To grab and hold; a bird can bind to quarry, a lure, or the falconer’s hand. Bob Up-and-down head movement showing interest; thought to be for judging distance to an object.

Owls are known for their outstanding neck mobility: these birds can rotate their heads more than 270°. The rotational capability was described as rotation about the yaw and roll axes.

Owls don’t need eyes in the back of their heads to see what’s behind them — they can just swivel their heads all the way around.

In an Exorcist-style display of flexibility, owls can rotate their necks a maximum of 270 degrees without breaking blood vessels or tearing tendons. A Great Horned Owl syncs its ears and eyes to unleash it’s silent assault on prey.

Unlike a human whose arteries tend to get smaller and smaller as they branch out, the owl’s blood vessels at the base of the head get larger and larger so that blood reservoirs form. This allows the owl to “meet the energy needs of their large brains and eyes, while they rotate their heads.”

Owls can’t move their eyeballs. That’s because owls don’t have eyeballs at all. Instead, their eyes are shaped like tubes, held rigidly in place by bones called sclerotic rings. Owls can turn their necks about 270° in either direction, and 90° up-and-down, without moving their shoulders!