It’s dark. It’s quiet. A mighty hunter sits watching and listening. Suddenly and silently, it swoops down, snatching up its unsuspecting prey and carrying it off to enjoy as dinner. This hunter will eat nearly anything that moves, from a mouse to a rabbit to a wild turkey, and it isn’t afraid to eat a scorpion, snake, skunk or porcupine either. It’s the great horned owl.

The great horned owl is perfectly adapted to be a great hunter. Meat-eating birds are called birds of prey or raptors. The word raptor comes from the Latin word “raptare,” which means “to seize and carry away.” There are three special things that make a bird a raptor: a hooked beak, strong talons and sharp eyesight. The hooked beak helps to tear large prey into chunks the owl can eat. Its talons can grab animals on the ground or another bird right out of the air. The owl’s eyesight is eight to ten times better than a human’s, and it can see well even when there isn’t very much light. In complete darkness an owl can rely on its incredible hearing to locate its prey. Its other advantage is its soft, fringed feathers, which allow it to make almost no sound at all when it flies. Because of this, most of its prey have no idea they are about to become a meal.