Camouflaged "scout" visits Ukrainian border guards: 10 interesting facts about owls that will amaze you

A new mysterious "agent" has appeared on the northern border of Ukraine. It's an owl that came to visit our border guards.

On the Facebook page of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the officials noted that this bird would make a good scout because of its natural camouflage. Still, this is only one of at least 10 interesting features of the owl.

"Silent, mysterious, and wise. An owl visited our border guards, 'reported' on the situation, and went about its business," the SBGS representatives captioned the photos with the feathered guest.

"She blends in perfectly," one commenter noted.

"A master of disguise," added another.

"It's a night vision device from our secret biolab," another joked.

"The geese have already been trained, now come the owls. Well done guys!"

In the book Owl Sense, author Miriam Darlington tells the most interesting facts about these birds, the BBC reports.

1. Owls can turn their heads as much as 270 degrees in each direction thanks to their 14 neck vertebrae.
2. The oldest owl image known to science, which is estimated to be 36,000 years old, can be found in the Chauvet Cave in southern France.
3. In general, owls have been living on Earth for over 70-80 million years. Scientists came to this conclusion after studying fossils.
4. Owls have extremely sharp hearing because they hunt mostly at night. A great grey owl can hear its potential victim from under a 60-centimeter snow cover from almost a kilometer away.
5. Owls also have a special type of vision called binocular vision. This means that their eyes look forward, like humans, and not to the sides, like many other birds. This helps them process more complex visual information. Owls also have large eyes that transmit more light, allowing them to see in the dark.
6. In Western culture, owls represent knowledge and wisdom. This is usually attributed to the influence of Greek mythology: the goddess of wisdom Athena was almost always depicted accompanied by an owl.
7. There are about 200 species of owls, and these birds live everywhere except the Antarctic.
8. An interesting one is the snowy owl, which lives in Arctic tundra. It has white feathers, which makes it invisible in the snow. It has thick plumage even on its fee, and therefore it does not freeze even at temperatures down to -50°C.
9. The largest owl today is the Eurasian eagle-owl, which is 75 cm tall, weighs up to 4.5 kg, and has a wingspan of up to 190 cm. The smallest is the Pacific pygmy owl. Its size is 15 cm and it weighs only 30 grams.
10. Female owls are on average 25% larger than males. One theory explains this difference in size by the fact that males must be more agile to hunt prey effectively.

It is interesting that only three species can be found in Ukraine - the tawny owl (Strix aluco), the Ural owl (Strix uralensis) and the great grey owl, according to Wikipedia.

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