Can owls move their eyes?

An owl's eyes are so well developed that they are able to see quite efficiently in low lighting conditions. However interestingly enough, their eyes are not really "eyeballs" rather than they are elongated tubes that are held in place by bony structures in the skull known as Sclerotic rings. It is for this reason that owls are unable to roll or move their eyes, instead it can only look straight ahead.

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38 Comments

Fran Donnelly

but I think they can do a 180 degree turn of their heads instead.

John W Shreve

If they can't roll their eyes. how do they express non-verbal annoyance?

Player

This question was a hoot.

Paulette Arnold

I love owls. Such beautiful birds.

Irene Townsend

Owls can turn their heads right around, they also have very good eyesight The amazing thing about owls is when they are flying you can't hear them their wings are extremely quiet when flying. Incredible birds

Player

Fran Donnelly, 270 degrees apparently.

✨KRISTA✨

Maybe 🤔 something about head rotation to facilitate sight?

Helga U. Williams

They don't need to move their eyeballs. They can turn their heads like the girl in The Exorcist, lol! 😊

earlepg

Owls can turn their head, as others have said, 270° in either direction, usually stopping at 180° and then turning to look in the other direction. Humans can turn their heads only 90° in either direction. Looking straight ahead, the owls field of vision is only 110° vs the humans' 180°. Owls have extra vertebra in their necks, hidden by feathers, which allows for increased sight up and down.