Listening for Birds
Listening for birds has changed the way I experience being outside. What once registered as birdsong has begun separating into individual voices, each belonging to someone.
I've discovered an astonishing range of bird life in the woods that border my backyard: tiny bodies capable of crossing continents, beautiful songs belonging to ruthless little predators, conspicuous show-offs sharing the woods with birds so secretive you may know them only by voice.
Maybe it’s midlife. Maybe it’s the news headlines. Either way, I find myself increasingly inclined to go outside, pay attention, and learn the living vocabulary of this place I now call home.
The Barred Owl
I love owls. The rarity of actually seeing one is part of the enchantment. They're wonderfully unlike the backyard birds that make themselves available to us. Cardinals appear at the feeder. Blue jays announce their arrival to the entire county. Carolina Wrens seem convinced your porch belongs to them.
An owl is different. You receive evidence of it. A call from somewhere beyond the porch light. A PUC detection at 3:17 a.m. Maybe a shadow crossing between trees. And very occasionally, the enormous privilege of looking up and realizing one is looking back at you. I know one is here but my first actual sighting of this Barred Owl is going to absolutely make my week.
Owls are astonishingly well engineered for being nighttime assassins, with their hearing possibly the most remarkable part of the whole operation.
Then there's the silent-flight trick. The leading edges of owl flight feathers have comb-like structures that break up turbulent airflow, while their soft feather surfaces further damp noise. That's useful not only because prey doesn't hear the owl coming; it also means the owl's own wing beats don't interfere with its ability to listen.
Those enormous eyes take up serious skull real estate. They're tube-shaped rather than spherical and held largely fixed in place. That's why an owl turns its whole head to redirect its gaze. There's so much more owl weirdness to explore, truly an excellent animal to become irrationally interested in.