第7章 Lesson 7: Night Flyers
Have you ever heard a hooting or screeching sound at night and wondered if you were hearing an owl? It's more likely that you have heard an owl in the wild rather than seen one. Owls are nocturnal, which means that they are active mostly at night. Owls feed on live prey, and the darkness makes it harder for them to be seen by the small animals they hunt.
There are more than 175 species of owls, but they are generally divided into two categories—common owls and barn owls. Barn owls have a light-coloured, heart-shaped face. Common owls are a diverse group with many different patterns and colourings, but all have a round face. The largest owls are as big as eagles. The smallest is the elf owl, which lives in Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is only about 13 centimetres tall and makes its home in the holes woodpeckers create in large cacti.
One thing all owls have in common is their sharp sense of hearing. Because they hunt at night, hearing is very important to their survival. Owls can hear a rodent's movements hundreds of metres away!
Owls are farsighted, which means they cannot see well at close distances. However, they can see well in dim light, which enhances their hunting skills. Unlike most animals, an owl's eyes do not move. Instead, the owl must turn its entire head to see anything that is not directly in front of it. For this reason, the owl has an extremely flexible neck. It is able to turn its head about 270 degrees. That is three quarters of a circle!
Another thing owls can do is fly silently. This keeps the owl's prey from hearing it approach, but it also permits the owl to use its hearing to locate the exact position of the animal. Owls' wings are a very soft, downy type of feather that muffles the sound in flight. A fringe of feathers along the edges of the wings is also thought to quiet the flapping sound of the owls' wings.
Owls are found in the stories of many cultures. In France, archaeologists discovered cave paintings between 15,000 and 20,000 years old that contain images of owls. Mummified owls have also been found in Egyptian tombs, which indicates they were respected in ancient Egyptian culture.
Owls symbolize wisdom in some cultures. In others, they are feared and thought to bring bad luck. It is likely that the negative associations with owls came about because they are nocturnal creatures. Things associated with night and darkness have often been feared throughout history.
I. Word List
screeching: a loud noise that sounds like screaming
rodent: a small animal such as a mouse or rat
flexible: able to move a lot
muffle: to reduce sound
II. Vocabulary skills—Find the correct words in the reading.
1. different, unlike others: d _ _ _ _ _ _
2. quality or characteristic: a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3. sharp, sensitive: k _ _ _
4. makes better or stronger: e _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5. dulls the sound: m _ _ _ _ _ _
6. connections made between things: a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
III. Reading skills—Answer the following questions.
1. How are barn owls different from common owls?
___________________________________________________________.
2. Why is an owl's sense of hearing important to its survival?
___________________________________________________________.
3. How do we know that ancient Egyptians respected owls?
___________________________________________________________.
4. What is unusual about an owl's neck and eyes?
___________________________________________________________.
5. Where does the smallest owl live?
___________________________________________________________.
IV. Odd word out—In each row, circle the word that doesn't belong.
1. precise ability exact accurate
2. approach nocturnal darkness night
3. diverse different symbolize varying
4. soar fly glide walk
5. rodent mouse bird rat