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Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight.Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly.
Brains of an emu, a kiwi, a barn owl, and a pigeon, with visual processing areas labelled. The avian brain is the central organ of the nervous system in birds. Birds possess large, complex brains, which process, integrate, and coordinate information received from the environment and make decisions on how to respond with the rest of the body.
If one saw an owl or heard its hoot, someone was going to die. In general, owls are viewed as harbingers of bad luck, ill health, or death. The belief is widespread even today. [55] The Hindu goddess Lakshmi with the owl. In Hinduism, an owl is the vahana (mount) of the goddess Lakshmi, especially in the eastern region of India. [56]
The skeleton consists of very lightweight bones. They have large air-filled cavities (called pneumatic cavities) which connect with the respiratory system. [77] The skull bones in adults are fused and do not show cranial sutures. [78] The orbital cavities that house the eyeballs are large and separated from each other by a bony septum (partition).
Birds are generally digitigrade animals (toe-walkers), [7] [10] which affects the structure of their leg skeleton. They use only their hindlimbs to walk . [2] Their forelimbs evolved to become wings. Most bones of the avian foot (excluding toes) are fused together or with other bones, having changed their function over time.
Cross sectioned great grey owl specimen showing the extent of the body plumage, Zoological Museum, Copenhagen Skeleton of a Strigidae owl. While typical owls (hereafter referred to simply as owls) vary greatly in size, with the smallest species, the elf owl, being a hundredth the size of the largest, the Eurasian eagle-owl and Blakiston's fish owl, owls generally share an extremely similar ...
The supposed "giant barn owl" Basityto from the Early Eocene of Grafenmühle (Germany) was actually a crowned crane (Balearica); [16] the presumed "Easter Island barn owl", based on subfossil bones found on Rapa Nui, has turned out to be a procellarid; [17] and the specimen originally described as the fossilized Pliocene Lechusa stirtoni was ...
The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia. [4] It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total length of 75 cm (30 in), with a wingspan of 188 centimetres (6 feet 2 inches). Males are slightly smaller ...