Eagles, hawks, owls, and other raptors.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
What feature gives the golden eagle its name?
The gold shows on the nape feathers at the back of its neck, which shine bronze when sunlight hits them.
Golden eagles circle within which updraft before gliding across the landscape?
Thermal updrafts act like invisible elevators: eagles circle upward in them, then glide across the landscape.
Golden eagles occur in North America, Europe, Asia, and which other continent?
Golden eagles have a wide Northern Hemisphere range that includes northern Africa.
In a French Air Force experiment, which airborne target did golden eagles intercept?
Handlers rewarded drone attacks with meat, training the eagles to treat the machines like prey.
Which group of owls lives on every continent except Antarctica?
In 2024, ornithologists split the once-single Barn Owl into American, Eastern, and Western species.
What sound does a barn owl famously make instead of a hoot?
Its raspy screech and pale, silent shape gliding from dark barns earned the barn owl the nickname "ghost owl."
How can a barn owl catch a mouse in complete darkness?
A barn owl's ears sit at different heights on its head, letting it pinpoint a mouse's exact spot in total darkness.
How does a barn owl fly silently enough to sneak up on prey?
Soft fringes on barn owl feathers break up rushing air before it can whoosh, a trick engineers study to quiet planes and fans.
Hedwig, Harry Potter's loyal pet owl, belongs to which species?
Hedwig's white feathers with faint dark bars match a real female snowy owl, the big white owl of the Arctic tundra.
Which Arctic prey makes up the bulk of the Snowy Owl's diet?
One snowy owl can eat over 1,600 lemmings a year, and when lemming numbers boom, the owls lay bigger clutches of eggs.