Animals - Animal types and traits - Owls - Owl anatomy - Bird anatomy
Why can owls turn their heads so far?
Correct!
Owls have very large eyes that barely move inside the skull. To change the direction of their gaze, they therefore have to turn the whole head.
Their unusual range of motion depends on special adaptations in the neck and blood vessels. Owls can turn their heads by about 270 degrees, but not all the way around. Enlarged spaces in the neck vertebrae, expandable vessel sections, and vascular connections help keep blood flowing to the brain and eyes during extreme turns.
