Here's A Closeup Look
This Northern Boobook (Ninox japonica) is an owl photographed in Okinawa, Japan.
The Japanese would call it (アオバズク) Aobazuku.
It's a medium-sized owl that's a subspecies of the Brown Hawk Owl.
Notice it has a round-shaped head without any ear-tufts sticking out of it.
Bright yellow eyes, some folks think are comical (not me), and yellow talons are noticeable.
Other identifying marks are the dark brown feathers with brown and white streaks upfront.
The bird also has a distinctive black beak.
Hang on for the Eyeball Part!
It took a while for me to get proof from National Geographic that owls can't move their eyes.
They have to swivel their heads around because their eyeballs aren't in sockets like ours.
Here's an animation, made from several photos, of the bird looking around for prey.
It was the morning before a typhoon so, things are kind of misty and windy.
These birds are found in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
They hang out in wooded areas and forests up to 1700 meters in elevation.
The bird is a raptor that catches insects in flight and that's not all they eat.
They've been known to grab smaller birds, lizards, and bats.
See more about this Northern Boobook at:
