A brown squirrel scrambles up a tree, searching nuts to eat. Suddenly, an owl swoops down a tree branch and scoops up the squirrel with its talons. The owl breaks the squirrel's neck and tears it into tiny pieces. The hungry owl enjoys its delicious dinner and continues its search for other prey. Owls have many similarities, differences, and special characteristics in comparison to hawks when it comes to hunting.
To begin, owls have three different qualities to help them hunt. Since owls hunt during the night, they need night vision, hearing, and flying to help them hunt for their prey.Most owls' night vision allow them to see at night, even in complete darkness. Most importantly, their hearing leads them to a successful kill. Additionally, since some owls can't see in complete darkness, they use their hearing ability to guide them to their prey.
Furthermore, owls have furry, feathered feet for two main reasons. First, their feet help protect them from harsh, cold weather. Secondly, since owls grab their prey from their claws, the prey might bite or scratch their claws, so the furry, feathered feet can protect them. Owls' feet are very useful to them.
In addition, owls eat many different kinds of animals. For example, they eat mice rats, moles, squirrels, rabbits, skunks, insects, worms, spiders, frogs, lizards, small birds, fish, and lots more. Their favorite prey are rodents. Owls may snatch insects and small birds in mid air. Once owls catch their small prey, they eat them immediately. When owls catch large prey, they carry them in their talons, which are the owls' claws, and tear them into smaller pieces and eat it. After several hours of eating, the indigestible parts such as fur, feathers, bones, and teeth are crushed into balls called pellets. Owls cough and spit out the pellets.
Next, there are a lot of differences between an owl's feathers and a regular bird's feathers. Owls' wing feathers help them fly quietly.When a regular bird flies, air rushes over the surface of the wing feathers, which causes gushing noises. However, owls' comb-like feather edges break down the unsteady movement of air into little groups called micro- turbulences. Therefore, owls' wingbeats create a higher frequency that most creatures can't hear.Owls can take their prey by surprise and listen for their movements while flying. Unlike other birds, owls' skills help them hunt their prey successfully.
Subsequently, hawks and owls have many differences. Hawks hunt during the daytime. Unlike owls, hawks can not fly quietly, do not have better hearing than the owls, and can not see as well. Hawks can not fly quietly because air rushes over the surface of the wing feathers, which makes gushing noises. Owls can see ten times better than the human eye, while hawks can only see eight times better than a normal human being can see. Owls spit out pellets, but hawks don't. Hawks hunt during the daytime, but owls hunt during the nighttime.
Finally, hawks and owls have many similarities. Owls and hawks are both birds of prey. Birds of prey are birds that must kill other animals to survive. For example,they eat insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and lots more. Hawks and owls cannot chew their food, so they both swallow their prey whole. They can both glide easily and fly slowly for long periods of time.
To sum it up, owls and hawks are very powerful birds of prey. Owls and hawks have resemblance, contrasts, and owls have special characteristics that hawks do not have when it comes to hunting.
Sources:
http://www.owls.org/index.html
http://sunnydixie.blogspot.com/2010/06/john-blakeman-on-how-hawks-hunt-and.html
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/sharp-shinned_hawk/lifehistory