Last updated on May 25th, 2023 at 11:22 pm
Owls are beautiful birds with mysterious behavior. A common owl behavior trait is swaying from side to side. What’s the reason behind this bodily movement?
Owls sway from side to side because their eyes are fixed, which helps them see things around them. They also sway when scared, stressed, dehydrated, or sick. Sometimes owls sway when threatened or as a mating display.
1. Eyes Are Fixed
Owls have fixed eyes, and if they want to look at something above, below, or on either side, they need to bob their heads.
When hunting for prey or nesting material, swaying their bodies and bobbing their heads helps them judge the distance to the object and accurately picture their surroundings.
Humans can move their necks in a 40 to 80-degree range of motion.
Owls, on the other hand, have a neck range of motion of 270 degrees. This neck flexibility allows them to visualize and triangulate objects effectively.
An owl’s eyes aren’t shaped like balls like other mammals and birds, but rather, they are like long skinny tubes.
These allow the owl to only look straight ahead, rather than move them from side to side. So when they sway, they are actually trying to look at something.
2. Scared or Stressed
As highly aware creatures, owls understand when they need to protect themselves and move to a safer place.
They might feel scared when a larger bird is nearby or stressed if their nest has fallen or been destroyed.
Swaying is an owl’s way of assessing the situation and planning its next move. Other signs of a stressed or scared owl include:
- Pulled-in feathers
- Flattened ear tufts
- Distress calls or barking
- Spread-out wings
3. Sick or Dehydrated
Like all creatures, owls can sometimes get sick, and when they do, they can sometimes look unsteady on their feet and struggle to remain upright.
A swaying owl can also be a sign of muscle weakness due to illness.
Owls don’t typically drink water and don’t need as much hydration as other birds or animals.
They absorb most of their water from their food but will occasionally drink small water amounts when bathing.
If an owl hasn’t eaten for a few days, it can become dehydrated, leading to muscle weakness and low blood sugar.
This can cause the owl to sway and look unsteady until it eats again.
4. When Threatened
Owls are high up on the food chain and are rarely preyed upon.
However, some exceptions include larger owls, hawks, or falcons preying on smaller owls.
If an owl encounters a human in the wild, such as when a human disturbs them while they’re sleeping in a tree, they can feel threatened and sense danger.
When owls feel threatened, they sometimes sway from side to side to show the other creature that they are preparing to fight or defend themselves.
However, they are more likely to sway and attack the opponent if it’s threatening their nest or their young.
5. Performing a Mating Display
Some owl species perform a mating display when they find a mate, which can sometimes involve swaying from side to side.
Owls typically breed during the spring, and the courtship process before this mainly involves mating calls.
Male owls will also build nests and perform intricate mating flights to attract a mate.
Just prior to mating, the male may offer the female a piece of food, and they might both perform a mating display involving:
- Head bobbing
- Swaying the body from side to side
- Lifting the tail feathers up and down
More Owl Behaviors
Other bodily movements that owls make include silent flying, quartering, stunning prey with their talons, eating prey whole, and preening.
They are also masters at camouflage.
Silent Flying
One of the many things that make owls precise hunters is their silent flying method, which often takes prey by surprise.
This is possible due to their soft and velvety feathers, which break up the wind current into smaller streams, and muffles the sound, resulting in silent wing beats.
Quartering
Quartering refers to the method owls use for hunting.
This involves swooping low over the ground to find suitable food, circling, and then rapidly dipping onto the prey to catch it in their sharp talons.
After catching the prey, the owl will take it to its roosting place.
Stunning Prey With Their Talons
An owl has specially-adapted talons for effective hunting.
They are bony, short, and incredibly powerful, allowing the owl to stun the prey into submission and carry it back to their nest.
There are two talons pointing forward and two pointing to the back, with the tips of each talon having a sharp tip.
Eating Prey Whole
When an owl catches a rodent or small mammal, it usually eats it whole without chewing or breaking it into pieces.
It will only tear the prey apart when it has babies who don’t yet have large enough beaks or fully-developed digestive systems.
The owl’s complex digestive tract will extract the parts it needs, and it will then compress and regurgitate unnecessary parts, such as:
- Bones
- Teeth
- Feathers
- Claws
When the owl regurgitates these parts, they look like pellets, which many people mistake for owl droppings.
Preening
Owls frequently preen themselves to remove loose feathers and eliminate parasites, dirt, and dust.
Using their talons and beaks, owls comb their feathers and occasionally nibble to remove stubborn dirt pieces.
Preening is a daily activity, and usually happens when the owl wakes up at dusk.
Camouflaging
Have you ever seen an owl sleeping during the day? Chances are, you haven’t because owls are masters at camouflage due to their feather colors.
As their name suggests, Snowy Owls live in wintry places, and their white feathers blend in well with the snowy landscape.
Great Gray Owls, on the other hand, enjoy sleeping in trees, where their feathers seem to make them disappear into the bark.