Northern Hawk Owl in flight

I promise to get back to posting about my trip to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala soon. Meanwhile, however, I can’t resist sharing this flight series of a Northern Hawk Owl flying off the perch and hovering over the sound of a potential prey item under the snow, before calling off the hunt (this time I guess it wasn't worth the hunt) and returning to the perch.

Northern Hawk Owls, and other owls, have some wonderful adaptations for hunting in this fashion, including the comb-like projections on the outer primary feathers that reduces the noise of wind drag, making their flight virtually silent so when they hover over the sound of a vole under the snow they don’t get distracted by the sound of their wings.








Enjoy!