Contract Name: Owl
Type: Animal
Specimen: Owls
Culture/Lore:
Owls have long been animals renowned for their relationship with the "mind" and being associated with the Wise. These creatures have amazing natural abilities. Owls vary greatly in size, appearance, and coloration, but they all share one thing—the ability to turn their head 270 degrees. In order to perform this task, their necks contain 14 vertebrae, rather than the usual seven found in “normal” birds. While the neck vertebrae provide the range of movement, many animals—such as humans—would suffer traumatic arterial injuries and blood flow interruptions from such extreme motion.
Owls exhibit specialized hearing functions and ear shapes that also aid in hunting. They are noted for asymmetrical ear placements on the skull in some genera. Owls can have either internal or external ears, both of which are asymmetrical. Asymmetrical ear placement on the skull allows the owl to pinpoint the location of its prey. With ears set at different places on its skull, an owl is able to determine the direction from which the sound is coming by the minute difference in time that it takes for the sound waves to penetrate the left and right ears. The owl turns its head until the sound reaches both ears at the same time, at which point it is directly facing the source of the sound. This time difference between ears is a matter of about 0.00003 seconds, or 30 millionths of a second. Behind the ear openings are modified, dense feathers, densely packed to form a facial ruff, which creates an anterior-facing, concave wall that cups the sound into the ear structure. This facial ruff is poorly defined in some species, and prominent, nearly encircling the face, in other species. The facial disk also acts to direct sound into the ears, and a downward-facing, sharply triangular beak minimizes sound reflection away from the face. The shape of the facial disk is adjustable at will to focus sounds more effectively.
An Owl can also tell if the sound is higher or lower by using the asymmetrical or uneven Ear openings.
The translation of left, right, up and down signals are combined instantly in the Owl's brain, and create a mental image of the space where the sound source is located. Studies of Owl brains have revealed that the medulla (the area in the brain associated with hearing) is much more complex than in other birds. A Barn Owl's medulla is estimated to have at least 95,000 neurons - three times as many as a Crow.
Once the Owl has determined the direction of its next victim, it will fly toward it, keeping its head in line with the direction of the last sound the prey made. If the prey moves, the Owl is able to make corrections mid-flight. When about 60 cm from the prey, the Owl will bring its feet forward and spread its talons in an oval pattern, and, just before striking, will thrust its legs out in front of its face and often close its eyes before the kill.
A large part of what makes owls such effective hunters is their ability to hear exceptionally well, while remaining silent themselves. However, this requires some interesting adaptations. Special hooks on the front of the owl’s wing feathers act as airflow silencers, while “fraying” on the trailing edges offer silent flight that allows the owl to swoop behind prey undetected. To produce truly cutting-edge powers of auditory detection, owls fly in the face of conventions of animal symmetry. Several owl genera have asymmetrical ears, located at different heights on the owl’s head. This allows the owl to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions, helping to quickly guide the bird into striking range.
By comparison, humans have a field of view that covers 180 degrees, with 140 degrees being binocular.
An owl's eyes are large in order to improve their efficiency, especially under low light conditions. In fact, the eyes are so well developed, that they are not eyeballs as such, but elongated tubes. They are held in place by bony structures in the skull called Sclerotic rings. For this reason, an owl cannot "roll" or move its eyes - that is, it can only look straight ahead!
The owl more than makes up for this by being able to turn its head up to 270 degrees left or right from the forward facing position, and almost upside down.
While owls are commonly believed to have great nocturnal vision due to their large (thus very light-gathering) eyes and pupils and/or extremely sensitive rod receptors, the true cause for their ability to see in the night is due to neural mechanisms which mediate the extraction of spatial information gathered from the retinal image throughout the nocturnal luminance range. These mechanisms are only able to function due to the large-sized retinal image. Thus, the primary nocturnal function in the vision of the owl is due to its large posterior nodal distance; retinal image brightness is only maximized to the owl within secondary neural functions. These attributes of the owl cause its nocturnal eyesight to be far superior to that of its average prey. Since owls have extraordinary night vision, it is often thought that they are blind in strong light. This is not true, because their pupils have a wide range of adjustment, allowing the right amount of light to strike the retina. Some species of owls can actually see better than humans in bright light.
Talons and Beak:While the auditory and visual capabilities of the owl allow it to locate and pursue its prey, the talons and beak of the owl do the final work.
The crushing power of an owl’s talons varies according to prey size and type, and by the size of the owl.
The beak of the owl is short, curved, and downward-facing, and typically hooked at the tip for gripping and tearing its prey. Once prey is captured, the scissor motion of the top and lower bill is used to tear the tissue and kill. The sharp lower edge of the upper bill works in coordination with the sharp upper edge of the lower bill to deliver this motion. The downward-facing beak allows the owl’s field of vision to be clear, as well as directing sound into the ears without deflecting sound waves away from the face.
The coloration of the owl’s plumage plays a key role in its ability to sit still and blend into the environment, making it nearly invisible to prey. Owls tend to mimic the colorations and sometimes even the texture patterns of their surroundings.
Usually, the only tell-tale sign of a perched owl is its vocalizations or its vividly colored eyes.
It should be noted that all owls that are part of this contract can talk.
Element(s): Wind Release
Designated Skill: Sensory
Summoning Method: The user makes a bird hand-seal and places the hand either on a surface of utilizes the jutsu by by clapping them together. Both processes activate the Summoning jutsu. The tatto on the user's body will shine a little and the owl will appear in a poof of smoke.
Requirements: Having signed the Owl Contract. Signing the Owl contract implies having the Owl Symbol tattoed somewhere in the body.
Drawbacks:N/A
Holders: Uchiha Akihiro
Sources:
Wikipedia and
https://www.owlpages.com
Type: Animal
Specimen: Owls
Culture/Lore:
The Owl Symbol
The Natural Abilities of the Owl
Body Shape:
Owls have long been animals renowned for their relationship with the "mind" and being associated with the Wise. These creatures have amazing natural abilities. Owls vary greatly in size, appearance, and coloration, but they all share one thing—the ability to turn their head 270 degrees. In order to perform this task, their necks contain 14 vertebrae, rather than the usual seven found in “normal” birds. While the neck vertebrae provide the range of movement, many animals—such as humans—would suffer traumatic arterial injuries and blood flow interruptions from such extreme motion.
Hearing:
Owls exhibit specialized hearing functions and ear shapes that also aid in hunting. They are noted for asymmetrical ear placements on the skull in some genera. Owls can have either internal or external ears, both of which are asymmetrical. Asymmetrical ear placement on the skull allows the owl to pinpoint the location of its prey. With ears set at different places on its skull, an owl is able to determine the direction from which the sound is coming by the minute difference in time that it takes for the sound waves to penetrate the left and right ears. The owl turns its head until the sound reaches both ears at the same time, at which point it is directly facing the source of the sound. This time difference between ears is a matter of about 0.00003 seconds, or 30 millionths of a second. Behind the ear openings are modified, dense feathers, densely packed to form a facial ruff, which creates an anterior-facing, concave wall that cups the sound into the ear structure. This facial ruff is poorly defined in some species, and prominent, nearly encircling the face, in other species. The facial disk also acts to direct sound into the ears, and a downward-facing, sharply triangular beak minimizes sound reflection away from the face. The shape of the facial disk is adjustable at will to focus sounds more effectively.
An Owl can also tell if the sound is higher or lower by using the asymmetrical or uneven Ear openings.
The translation of left, right, up and down signals are combined instantly in the Owl's brain, and create a mental image of the space where the sound source is located. Studies of Owl brains have revealed that the medulla (the area in the brain associated with hearing) is much more complex than in other birds. A Barn Owl's medulla is estimated to have at least 95,000 neurons - three times as many as a Crow.
Once the Owl has determined the direction of its next victim, it will fly toward it, keeping its head in line with the direction of the last sound the prey made. If the prey moves, the Owl is able to make corrections mid-flight. When about 60 cm from the prey, the Owl will bring its feet forward and spread its talons in an oval pattern, and, just before striking, will thrust its legs out in front of its face and often close its eyes before the kill.
Flight:
Most owls live a mainly nocturnal lifestyle and being able to fly without making any noise gives them a strong advantage over their prey that are listening for the slightest sound in the night. A large part of what makes owls such effective hunters is their ability to hear exceptionally well, while remaining silent themselves. However, this requires some interesting adaptations. Special hooks on the front of the owl’s wing feathers act as airflow silencers, while “fraying” on the trailing edges offer silent flight that allows the owl to swoop behind prey undetected. To produce truly cutting-edge powers of auditory detection, owls fly in the face of conventions of animal symmetry. Several owl genera have asymmetrical ears, located at different heights on the owl’s head. This allows the owl to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions, helping to quickly guide the bird into striking range.
Vision:
Of all an owl's features, perhaps the most striking is its eyes. Large and forward facing, they may account for one to five percent of the owl's body weight, depending on species. The forward facing aspect of the eyes that give an owl its "wise" appearance, also give it a wide range of "binocular" vision (seeing an object with both eyes at the same time). This means the owl can see objects in 3 dimensions (height, width, and depth), and can judge distances in a similar way to humans. The field of view for an owl is about 110 degrees, with about 70 degrees being binocular vision.By comparison, humans have a field of view that covers 180 degrees, with 140 degrees being binocular.
An owl's eyes are large in order to improve their efficiency, especially under low light conditions. In fact, the eyes are so well developed, that they are not eyeballs as such, but elongated tubes. They are held in place by bony structures in the skull called Sclerotic rings. For this reason, an owl cannot "roll" or move its eyes - that is, it can only look straight ahead!
The owl more than makes up for this by being able to turn its head up to 270 degrees left or right from the forward facing position, and almost upside down.
While owls are commonly believed to have great nocturnal vision due to their large (thus very light-gathering) eyes and pupils and/or extremely sensitive rod receptors, the true cause for their ability to see in the night is due to neural mechanisms which mediate the extraction of spatial information gathered from the retinal image throughout the nocturnal luminance range. These mechanisms are only able to function due to the large-sized retinal image. Thus, the primary nocturnal function in the vision of the owl is due to its large posterior nodal distance; retinal image brightness is only maximized to the owl within secondary neural functions. These attributes of the owl cause its nocturnal eyesight to be far superior to that of its average prey. Since owls have extraordinary night vision, it is often thought that they are blind in strong light. This is not true, because their pupils have a wide range of adjustment, allowing the right amount of light to strike the retina. Some species of owls can actually see better than humans in bright light.
Talons and Beak:
The crushing power of an owl’s talons varies according to prey size and type, and by the size of the owl.
The beak of the owl is short, curved, and downward-facing, and typically hooked at the tip for gripping and tearing its prey. Once prey is captured, the scissor motion of the top and lower bill is used to tear the tissue and kill. The sharp lower edge of the upper bill works in coordination with the sharp upper edge of the lower bill to deliver this motion. The downward-facing beak allows the owl’s field of vision to be clear, as well as directing sound into the ears without deflecting sound waves away from the face.
Camouflage:
The coloration of the owl’s plumage plays a key role in its ability to sit still and blend into the environment, making it nearly invisible to prey. Owls tend to mimic the colorations and sometimes even the texture patterns of their surroundings.
Usually, the only tell-tale sign of a perched owl is its vocalizations or its vividly colored eyes.
It should be noted that all owls that are part of this contract can talk.
Element(s): Wind Release
Designated Skill: Sensory
Summoning Method: The user makes a bird hand-seal and places the hand either on a surface of utilizes the jutsu by by clapping them together. Both processes activate the Summoning jutsu. The tatto on the user's body will shine a little and the owl will appear in a poof of smoke.
Requirements: Having signed the Owl Contract. Signing the Owl contract implies having the Owl Symbol tattoed somewhere in the body.
Drawbacks:N/A
Holders: Uchiha Akihiro
Sources:
Wikipedia and
https://www.owlpages.com
Last edited by Uchiha Akihiro on Wed Aug 29, 2018 9:51 pm; edited 3 times in total
