A Tale of Two Feathers

If you remember the blurb about the Regatta (Taking the Plunge, July 2008) you'll remember that Nancy picked up a barred owl which had been hit by a car. Since the dead bird was banded, it needed to be reported, and while she was trying to find time to do all of that, the bird languished, well wrapped in plastic bags, in her freezer, next to a Downy Woodpecker that hit a window and was destined to go Algonquin Park to be part of one of their educational displays. (folks coming to her place to dinner often take a look in the freezer, and suggest going out to eat) It's a form of recycling: dead birds go to the Park educational displays. Injured birds go the nearby Wing and a Prayer Bird Rehabilition Centre.

We're happy to report that the owl -- and the woodpecker -- are now safely in the hands of the Park Naturalists.

When Park Naturalist Rick dropped by to pick them up, early one morning last week, we were treated to the sight of an osprey flying overhead, and then diving to the lake. That got Rick pretty excited. They are not that common a sight here.

To show our guests, Nancy kept an owl feather. (She actually kept an entire wing, but to do this you have to have a license of permission -- got that; and someone to help preserve the wing -- working on that) Owls are silent fliers. They can whoosh past and you won't hear a thing. That's helpful if you're sneaking up on a mouse in the dark. What helps them fly so silently is the shape and design of their feathers. Not the fastest fliers out there, owls have wide feathers that are fringed at the edges, breaking up the air along the feather's edge. You can see those fringes in the photo of the barred owl feather. They are deadly accurate, and you never hear them coming.

Ravens, on the other wing, are fast in the air, and noisy with it. You can hear them as their feathers slice into the air. They create a lot of noise. That's because their feathers are hard edged, sharp, narrow. Built for speed, but not very useful if you're trying to sneak up on a mouse. Ravens don't care much about mice. They like other things. One scooped a swimsuit with bright shiny buttons off the porch at one of the cottages recently. Ravens like shiny things. Loud things. If they were people, they'd probably take the muffler off the convertible, and crank the stereo...

Form and function in the bird world always comes down to feathers!