Super Powered Owls Natural World

They can find prey without ever seeing it.

They can fly as silent as a ghost...

..and they can even see in the dark.

Owls have what appear to be genuine super-powers.

To understand their amazing abilities,

we're going to get closer than ever before.

Meet Luna and Lily.

Through the eyes of these fluffy little barn owl chicks...

-WOMAN:

-You can fly!

..and their extraordinary family,

we'll reveal the magic behind these mysterious birds.

-You wouldn't want to be a vole now, would you?

-No.

No, life as a vole would be brief.

And working with some of the world's leading scientists...

-There's not a sound. That is really impressive, isn't it?

-Yup.

..we'll find out what gives owls their super-powered edge.

Owls live all over the world...

..from the frozen north...

..to scorched deserts.

With their familiar faces, these charismatic birds

have captured our imagination.

There are about 240 different species...

..and they appear to have conquered our planet.

They live on every continent, except Antarctica.

So, what are the secrets of their success?

Owls are birds of prey.

Like their cousins, the hawks, eagles, and falcons,

they have sharp talons...

..a curved beak

and a taste for small mammals.

But they also have a unique set of skills that set them apart.

Their superpowers.

To find out more,

we need to go beneath the surface...

..and start at the very beginning...

..when all of the potential for this remarkable bird

is held in one tiny egg.

After 30 days of incubation,

the chick inside is ready to make an appearance.

But it's a tough task. It can take 48 hours for an owlet

to break out of its protective shell.

What are you up to in there?

You coming out yet, little one? Eh?

Anxiously waiting in the incubation room

is an unusual father for a bird.

I saw you move then, I saw the egg move.

HE LAUGHS

You moved!

Lloyd Buck has been fascinated with owls since he was young.

Now he and his wife Rose have a whole family of birds,

including a barn owl called Kensa...

..Johanna the Tawny Owl...

Good girl.

..Arnie,

Bran,

Moses,

PJ...

and Sasha the tawny eagle.

Lloyd and Rose love and care for their birds

like their own children.

Good boys, come on then.

Whoo!

They also train them to star in films.

We've got a little pellet.

They have a passion for educating others about birds

and the importance of protecting them in the wild.

Through the eyes of this special family,

we're going to learn more about the owl's mysterious world.

Lloyd and Rose are going to put their own birds to the test...

..and, this year, they're expecting some new arrivals...

..two barn owl chicks.

-Hiya. How's it going, Lloyd?

-Well, it's all right.

The eggs are being incubated by experts

at the Hawk Conservancy Trust, a specialist bird conservation centre.

He's already started to pip. There's a little bit of movement.

Can you see the movement?

Look at that!

Mike Riley and his team make regular checks on their progress.

-We'll put her back in now.

-Yeah, yeah.

The first is nearly ready to hatch.

It's almost two days since the owlet inside

made her first pip on the shell.

Come on, little one.

Now she's exhausted...

Go on. What you doing?

Get out.

..and running out of oxygen.

One more big push and you're out!

Ooh, there you are!

Hello.

You've done well, little one, eh?

That must have been a huge effort, wasn't it? To get out of there.

See, it's easy to take it for granted when you're here.

But, actually, it's a really wondrous thing to see new life

to come into the world, there's something really special

about that. Really special.

Mind you, saying that, they're not the prettiest of owlets, are they?

This chick and her younger sibling

have come from a pair of captive barn owls.

OWLET SQUEAK

As they grow, they'll give us a rare and incredible opportunity

to learn more about these secretive birds.

We've already thought of a name, which is Luna.

We always tend to give our birds names

because they become part of the family.

With Lloyd's love and care, Luna grows quickly.

And, just six days later, she meets her younger sister.

Lloyd and Rose call her Lily.

Once the owlets are strong enough, it's time to bring them home.

-Hello!

-Hello!

SHE LAUGHS

All right? There you are.

SHE LAUGHS

They're so cute.

Come on, then.

During these early days and weeks, Lloyd and Rose need to give

Luna and Lily round the clock attention.

Go on. Delicious!

'When they hatch, they're blind, completely helpless'

they can't even regulate their own body temperature,

and they need four feeds a day.

'It's just like babies, really.

'But you've taken on the responsibility'

so you just have to get on with it.

The Owlets have a long way to go before they transform

into magnificent super-powered owls.

Now, shall we write down what you did today, eh?

Nature will play its part,

but, right now, they're entirely dependent on Lloyd and Rose.

By the evening, everyone's exhausted.

But in the wild, this is the time when most owls are waking up.

OWL HOOTS

The tawny owl haunts our nights.

But why choose to live in this dark and difficult time of day?

OWL CALLS

With the help of a special heat-seeking camera,

we can enter this hidden, nocturnal world.

It's springtime in the Highlands of Scotland.

At this time of year, male owls are feeling the pressure.

This one has a family of hungry mouths to feed in a nearby nest box.

The thermal camera reveals something else.

Many mammals are active at night.

So, despite the dark,

it's an ideal time to go hunting.

Success.

The female comes straight over to collect the catch.

Her owlets are a month old,

with a growing appetite.

One mouse won't be enough.

But luckily there's plenty more where that came from.

No other bird of prey can hunt in such darkness.

So, at night,

owls have the skies to themselves.

It's one of the keys to their success.

But how are they able to see in the dark?

This is where owls deploy the first of their superpowers.

Owls have characteristically big eyes.

A tawny owl's eyes take up a staggering 70% of its skull.

For us, it's only 5%.

These large eyes enable the owl

to gather as much of the available light as possible.

At the back of the eye,

the retina has a particularly high density of rod cells.

These cells are extremely sensitive in low light,

capable of resolving

an extra layer of detail,

which is sent to the brain

via the optic nerve.

These special adaptations mean a tawny owl can see an image

two and a half times brighter than the one we see...

..which helps it target small mammals lurking in dark undergrowth.

But tawny owls have another incredible skill.

They're territorial birds,

and, as they fly around their home range,

they create a mental map.

This means they can find their way in the dark,

avoiding unseen obstacles.

So, it's the owl's formidable memory,

combined with their sensitive vision,

that helps them take advantage of the night-time world.

At two weeks old,

Luna and Lily open their eyes...

..but it's another few days before they can focus on anything.

-OWLET PEEPS

-Yes!

Now at three and four weeks old,

they're starting to take in their surroundings.

THEY CHUCKLE

-Oi, oi!

-Oi, oi!

ROSE LAUGHS

To encourage their development,

Lloyd and Rose take the owlets to meet the children at a local school.

-Hello, everybody. CHILDREN:

-Hello.

Hello.

OK?

Well, this one here is Luna.

Luna?

Yes, and that's Lily.

-I've got a pet rabbit called Lily.

-Have you?

-Have you? Ah!

-Oh!

Her nice wing feathers are starting to grow now, you can see.

Yeah. I think they can fly but they can't.

No. You know why? Because they're still too small.

It's a unique opportunity for the children

to learn more about owls...

That is the egg that Lily hatched from.

..and it's also clear how far the owlets have come.

So, when she hatched, only three weeks ago, 20 days ago,

she fitted in there. Look.

She was smaller than her own head is now.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa.

-Isn't that amazing?

Now, who knows what's really clever about what owls can do?

-They can see in the dark.

-That's it! Well done.

Now to be able to see at night, it's not easy,

but owls have very, very good eyes.

They're very clever birds.

Good night vision is probably the owl's best-known superpower.

There we are. What do you think?

-She's as soft as cotton wool.

-She is!

But Luna was developing another one of her senses...

..even before she hatched.

-What do you think?

-Shall we check on its progress?

Let's have a look.

On occasions, if you call to 'em, if you chip to 'em,

they actually call back to you. I'll shush to him.

Shusssh.

OWLET CHEEPS

I heard it! Amazing.

Remarkably, owlets recognise the calls of their parents

-even from inside the egg...

-Shusssh.

-CHEEPING It's amazing!

-Did you hear it?

Tiny little "Chip, chip."

We'll put him back in, then.

..which suggests sound must be an important part of their world.

But just how important is hearing to adult owls in the wild?

At a disused aerodrome in Essex,

this barn owl is on the lookout for her next meal.

Cold weather, and a blanket of snow, have left her short of food,

so she's been forced to hunt in the day.

And now she's got competition...

..a kestrel.

It's one of the downsides of hunting during the daylight hours.

And, even worse, the snow means she can't see her prey.

So how do you find your food

when it's hiding out of sight?

Hunger forces the kestrel to take a chance...

..but his razor sharp eyesight isn't enough in these conditions.

Luckily for the barn owl, she has another superpower in her armoury.

Flying blind won't stop her eating.

Because, although she can't see it, she can hear her prey,

even under the snow.

The kestrel simply doesn't have what it takes.

So how does an owl's extraordinary hearing work?

OWL HOOTS

Some owls have ear tufts...

..but these feathers aren't used for hearing.

They're more about communicating mood.

In fact, the owl's whole head is designed for listening.

Its distinctive round face is shaped like a satellite dish,

specifically to detect sound.

A ring of stiff feathers channel the sound towards the true ears,

which are hidden at the side of the face.

Some species of owl have one ear opening higher than the other.

This unique adaptation

allows the owl to work out what height a sound is coming from,

as well as the direction.

Sound arriving at the left ear

before it reaches the right,

tells the owl it's coming from below.

At certain frequencies, an owl's hearing

is ten times more sensitive than ours.

This extraordinary skill

means this great grey owl can locate its prey...

..even when it's out of sight.

Come on.

Shusssh.

Kensa.

Hearing is a key part of the owl's hunting strategy...

Kensa.

..in any environment.

Shusssh. Good girl. Come on.

Lloyd and Rose have an 11-year-old barn owl called Kensa...

Good girl.

..who they've trained to hunt to the sound of a beeper box.

BEEPING

When she hears that beep,

Kensa knows exactly where to find her food.

But what about at night?

Just how much is she relying on her hearing then?

So, that can go here.

To find out,

Lloyd's made an indoor hunting ground.

So, we're going to put the beeper in there.

Over to you, Rose.

He wants to be certain Kensa's not using her sight.

I want to make it totally dark.

So he creates an artificial night.

-OK, Rose?

-Yep.

Right, here we go.

Torch off.

OK, ready?

With our infrared cameras,

we can see what's going on,

but Lloyd, Rose and, importantly, Kensa

are in total darkness.

KENSA HISSES Hold on, where is she?

She must be by me, by the sounds of it.

BEEPING

-Sounds like she's under my feet somewhere.

-Shusssh.

KENSA CRIES

I can't hear, has she got it?

-I don't know.

-Do you think she's got it?

Oh, my gosh, she's got it!

THEY LAUGH

Using only her hearing,

Kensa locks straight on to the beeper.

BEEPING

That sounds good!

I'll get me torch, hold on. Kensa.

Shusssh. Good girl, you clever owl.

Who needs eyes when you've got ears like that, eh?

But the owl's super-human hearing

is made even more effective by their party trick.

They can turn their head through an incredible 270 degrees.

If we did that,

we'd cut off the blood supply to our brains and pass out.

But owls have evolved special adaptations in their necks.

As their head turns,

wide spaces in the neck vertebrae

make sure the blood vessels don't get crushed...

..and enlarged arteries at the top of the neck create a reservoir,

which keeps a constant supply of blood to the brain.

This astonishing flexibility allows the owl

to focus its super-sensitive vision and hearing...

directly at its prey.

In just two months,

there's been an amazing transformation.

Luna and Lily have grown from helpless little chicks...

..to near-adult barn owls.

Now their fluffy down

is being pushed out

by proper flight feathers...

Ooh! Come on, then.

-Shusssh.

-SHE CHUCKLES

..which marks the arrival of the biggest milestone

in their young lives.

Luna, come and get weighed.

Now Luna's started using her wings,

she's being slightly less cooperative

about her daily weigh-in.

Luna, I know you're hungry.

Come on, then.

Come on, then.

Good girl. Now, steady.

Don't go mad.

Steady, steady.

Good girl. That's it.

Wahey!

Luna, you can fly!

Luna's very first flight starts with a leap of faith from the scales...

..and now she's hop-flying every chance she can get...

..leaving her younger sister to stare in wonder.

ROSE LAUGHS

She's on the tripod!

Oh, yeah, she might.

Mastering this new skill doesn't happen over night.

She might have another go, though.

But it's something she must get right,

as flight is perhaps an owl's greatest superpower.

Luna.

Don't fall in the bucket of water!

Ooh, you're seeing what water is.

Is that interesting?

Shusssh. Oop!

THEY LAUGH

I told you not to go in the bucket of water.

Oh, poor thing!

You'll get very wet.

I don't think you'll do that again in a hurry.

Luna and Lily are still spending the night in the house.

Now Luna can fly, nowhere is out of bounds.

And her enthusiastic flight practice

is getting her into trouble.

Whoa! That's on the picture, Luna.

THEY LAUGH

That bird!

But Luna's lucky.

A house is a relatively safe place to practise this vital skill.

In the wild, some owls face a monumental challenge.

Californian redwoods are giants of the forest,

the tallest trees in the world.

And perched precariously at the top of this one

is a family of great grey owls.

It's a wonderfully safe place for a nest.

OWLET CRIES

But when it comes to learning to fly,

there are some obvious challenges.

Launching yourself off the equivalent of a 30-storey building

takes some courage.

Until they get the hang of it,

these owlets rely on being able to cling on.

This is less flying,

more falling with style.

He makes it safely to the ground.

But they must keep practising,

so now it's a long hard climb

back to the top.

And it's not long before they have lift off.

Although Lily's a week younger than Luna...

-SHE WHISTLES

-Whoo!

..like any younger sibling, she's not going to be left behind.

You're a clever, clever, clever girl.

I know you're hungry.

Before long, she's progressed from flapping...

to flying.

ROSE LAUGHS

Ah, that is so clever!

The power of flight is something that sets birds apart.

SHE WHISTLES

Lily!

Whoo!

And owls have refined their technique

with some incredible adaptations.

Ready?

-You ready?

-Yep.

Lily!

Come on.

To fully understand this superpower, we need to go back to basics.

Lily!

What does it take for Lily to get airborne?

To find out, Lloyd and Rose have enlisted the help

of bird expert Professor Graham Martin...

and high speed cameraman Mark Payne-Gill.

For a bird to take to the air,

it has to overcome two forces.

Gravity,

the invisible pull that keeps us grounded...

..and drag,

which is the resistance we experience

as we move through the air.

Birds use their wings to create lift...

and thrust.

But how do they do it?

Birds' wings are the shape of an aerofoil.

Air travelling over the top of the wing

has to travel faster than air travelling beneath.

This creates a difference in air pressure,

which generates lift.

To gain forward momentum,

birds flap their wings.

This makes the air flowing over them spiral off the trailing edge.

These vortices

thrust the bird forwards and upwards.

These are the basic principles of all flight.

But what's so unique about the way owls fly?

-We fly quite a few different types of bird...

-Yeah.

-..of varying sizes.

-Yeah.

But the one thing I notice about the owls

is they always appear to be a lot slower

when they're flying than the other birds.

Well, all birds have got different wing shapes

and they can fly at different speeds -

it's just like aircraft.

So if you look at the wing size of a barn owl,

it's actually got a very big wing,

and so they can fly very slow, very controlled.

To really understand the barn owl's slow flight,

Lloyd's putting Lily to the test against two of his other birds.

Maisie the greylag goose,

a long distance endurance flier...

..and Moses the peregrine falcon -

one of the fastest birds on earth.

The peregrine takes the lead.

Its long and pointed wings are quite flat,

designed for speed and manoeuvrability,

which it needs to hunt.

The goose is next.

Weighing three kilograms,

its relatively short and narrow wings work hard to get it airborne,

but once up, it can sustain this for hours.

The barn owl has the largest wings in relation to its body

and its aerofoil is very curved,

which generates a huge amount of lift.

So the barn owl can fly slower

and with fewer wingbeats than most other birds.

Whoo! Good girl.

But why is that important?

Sometimes when you're watching the owls fly,

they go so slowly

it looks as if they're not going to be able to maintain flight.

That's right. They are actually flying so slow

that they're very, very close to stalling.

But, of course, that's what they need to do

because when they're doing that very, very slow flight,

they're hunting.

It may be just a little rustle in the grass,

so they've got to be in a position to drop out the sky

and investigate it.

-And get a nice, tasty vole.

-Absolutely, yeah.

Owls have evolved a wing design

perfectly suited for their aerial hunting strategy.

Slow, yet deadly.

But the refinements don't stop there.

These birds have fine-tuned their flight

so each species has subtle adaptations

for the environment it lives in.

Like the barn owl,

these short-eared owls have very large, broad wings,

ideal for flying slowly whilst hunting over open ground.

Owls that live in woodland, like tawny owls,

have shorter, more rounded wings

to help them manoeuvre between trees.

Wherever they live,

all owls have an amazing aerial agility.

They're even able to take off vertically from standing.

It's a great defensive move,

especially when you've got young to protect.

SHARP BIRDCALL

SHARP BIRDCALL

A dive-bombing arctic skua is no match for the snowy owl.

Such mastery of the skies seems to make these owls fearless...

..even against one of the Arctic's largest predators.

OWL SHRIEKS

OWL SHRIEKS

Her supreme flying skills drive the wolves away...

..and her family is safe.

Owls have one more amazing flying skill...

..and this one is totally unique.

Floating across the meadow,

the barn owl is ghost-like in appearance...

..and mysteriously quiet, too.

But just how quiet is a hunting barn owl?

Kensa.

Shusssh.

To find out, Lloyd's taken Kensa to a special studio...

..where Graham...

WINGBEATS

..and sound recordist Gary Moore are going to put her to the test.

..against Smudge the pigeon...

..and Moses the peregrine.

The birds' challenge -

to fly over a series of super-sensitive microphones.

ROSE WHISTLES

WINGBEATS

Good girl.

THEY MURMUR

Moses.

Mo.

WINGBEATS

And now it's Kensa's turn.

Shusssh.

Here we go!

Shusssh. KENSA SHRIEKS

KENSA SHRIEKS

-Did you hear anything?

-Wow, that was really good.

No, nothing at all. Absolutely quiet.

It was amazing!

But what have the microphones picked up?

TUB RATTLES

The decibel waveforms show the sound being generated

by the birds in flight.

WINGBEATS

Each spike is an individual wingbeat.

THUD

WINGBEATS

THUD

But with the barn owl...

..there's almost nothing.

Even our array of super-sensitive microphones

fail to pick up any sound of Kensa in flight.

..and here's the owl doing exactly the same.

KENSA SHRIEKS

KENSA SHRIEKS

Nothing, nothing at all.

-I'll play it again.

-KENSA SHRIEKS

KENSA SHRIEKS

-There's not a sound.

-Yes.

That is really impressive, isn't it?

Yes, it shows that they really are silent fliers.

So how does a barn owl fly so silently?

WINGBEATS

When air moves, it generates sound.

The more movement, the greater the sound.

The pigeon's large body and small wings

mean it can't stay airborne without a lot of fast flapping.

This creates turbulence in the feathers below.

WINGBEATS

The peregrine has much larger wings,

which it uses to build up speed and chase down its prey.

The barn owl is far more graceful.

Kensa's large wings and small body

make it easier for her to generate lift.

So, just one gentle wingbeat

sees her gliding effortlessly through the air...

..creating little more than a whisper in the feathers below.

But that's not the only thing

that helps the barn owl achieve near-silent flight.

Its flight feathers have noise-reducing fringes

on the leading and trailing edges.

And they have a velvet-like top to them.

These soft surfaces absorb air movement,

reducing any turbulence and minimising sound.

Birds like pigeons and peregrines

don't have these specialised features.

So, why are they important for an owl?

I suppose being able to fly so silently

gives you two huge advantages over your prey.

Not only on a dark night, if you were a vole,

would you not hear your killer coming - you wouldn't hear it!

Also, it allows the owl, I suppose, to pinpoint its prey

without any interference from the noise of their wings.

It doesn't want to hear itself

as it's trying to home in on a very, very small sound.

-That's incredible, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

Silent flight is possibly the greatest

of all the owl's superpowers

and it makes a huge difference to their hunting success.

But, like every superpowered creature,

owls have their kryptonite.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Rain.

OWL CALLS

This male, short-eared owl has a young family back at the nest.

When it rains, they're all at risk.

Because there's a price to pay for having silent feathers -

they can't also be waterproof.

The female hunkers down.

She can't move, or her chicks will be at risk of hypothermia.

The male is struggling, too.

He can't hear his prey over the driving rain.

So, today, his family will go hungry.

Wet weather can be fatal for owls.

It's one of the reasons some don't make it through their first winter.

Learning to hunt for themselves

is a challenge all young owls face

if they're going to survive.

Little owls fledge between four and five weeks.

After this, their parents encourage them to fend for themselves.

The adults usually hunt voles and other small mammals...

..but these pint-sized youngsters don't have the experience

to take on such tricky prey.

So, they start by practising on something a bit easier.

Earthworms won't be enough to see them through the winter...

..but they're great for honing their hunting technique.

As birds of prey,

owls are defined by their habit for hunting small animals.

Mastering the kill is a critical survival skill...

..but it's clearly not easy.

So what exactly is it youngsters need to learn?

To find out, Lloyd's brought Kensa

to meet animal locomotion scientist Dr Jim Usherwood.

Together they'll try to deconstruct the moment she pounces on her prey.

In Jim's laboratory,

they've created a mini hunting ground.

That can go there.

Got the beeper?

They've hidden a beeper box and some food in the long grass.

Right...

And, concealed beneath the turf,

is a special device that can measure the forces at work.

BEEPING

-She's got it.

-There's a good girl.

You clever old barn owl.

How much force, then, does she exert on the pounce?

So, here we have the vertical forces of the owl.

And, so, there's the force of taking off,

and then you see some fairly powerful flaps,

and then she eases off the gas,

uses gravity to come back down at speed,

hits the ground at about five metres a second,

-with a force that's something like 12 times body weight.

-Wow.

This is the moment an owl must bring all its superpowers together.

Hanging silently in the air,

Kensa uses her hearing and eyesight to find her target.

She angles her face to pinpoint the sound.

Once she's locked on,

she positions her entire body for the pounce.

And then, what I find really interesting,

look, when she comes down,

basically she's going headfirst towards the ground.

And it's only now the legs come forwards.

But the legs are still very, very bent,

and, then, it's right at the very end the legs extend

and then you get that thump.

So, she's coming down at five metres a second.

She's hitting the ground at around 12 times her body weight.

-Mm-hm.

-Which would make sense,

because primarily she's hunting small mammals.

So she wants to hit them with as much force as possible,

to disable it and kill it.

What I was thinking was those long legs would be useful

to ease off the force -

but she's not easing off at all.

She's actually extending with her legs just as she hits the ground,

then gives it a good old thump.

To put this in perspective, the force of Kensa's pounce

is the equivalent of a 12-tonne truck hitting an 80kg man.

It's unlikely her prey

would survive the impact.

You wouldn't want to be a vole, would you, now?

No, no. No, life as a vole would be brief.

LLOYD LAUGHS

The journey to mastering such finely-tuned superpowers

starts early.

It's now three months since Luna and Lily entered the world.

They started to use their senses even before they hatched.

Shusssh.

OWLET CHEEPS

I heard it! Amazing.

First, their hearing.

And then, within three weeks,

they were using their eyesight to explore their surroundings.

Their development was encouraged by Lloyd and Rose

every step of the way.

Who knows what's really clever about what owls can do?

-They can see in the dark.

-That's it! Well done.

At just two months old,

Luna and Lily started to fly.

Wow!

Whoa, that's on the picture, Luna.

Now, at three months old,

it's time to see if they can put it all together.

Shusssh.

Come on, Luna.

Luna.

ROSE LAUGHS

Hello.

Mind your feet! Lily, come here.

Luna!

Luna and Lily have grown up

in an extraordinary family...

Good girl.

..and become bold and confident birds.

Lily! Yep.

ROSE LAUGHS

Luna, you're not meant to be on the camera.

Lily!

-Good girl.

-Good girl, good girl!

But despite their unusual upbringing,

out in the meadow, their natural instincts kick in.

They're hunting, just like adult barn owls,

using all their superpowers of keen eyesight,

extraordinary hearing

and slow and silent flight.

Shusssh.

Good girl, come on.

Nature has played its part...

BEEPING

Ooh, good girl. Got it?

..and Lloyd and Rose have done everything they can

to get both birds to this moment.

Got it stuck?

There you go.

But, while Lily continues to hone her skills living alongside them...

..there's been an unexpected twist to her sister's story.

One evening,

Luna flew off...

and she didn't come back.

For Lloyd, it only underlines her graduation

from owlet to adult,

reassuring him that he's equipped her with everything she needs

for an independent life.

I've given her all the skills that she needs to survive.

I've been her parent. She's chosen to go -

it's her choice -

and we always say they've got that choice to stay or go.

It's sad for me because you get really attached to them,

but they don't have those trappings of human sentiments.

She's just gone on to the wild to do her own thing.

Now, more than ever, Luna will rely on those special skills

that set owls apart.

For centuries, these enchanting birds have captured our imagination.

With their haunting calls and ghostly appearances,

owls add a magic and mystery to our landscapes.

Their charismatic faces are so familiar,

perhaps because they look that bit more human

than other birds.

But it's their superpowers

that make them one of the most successful

and best-loved birds on our planet.