Some facts about owls can surprise you

While many people know a little bit about animal facts these birds of prey, some facts about owls can surprise even the most experienced birders.

1. Size of the owl depends on the species. Smallest owl (Elf Owl) reaches weight of only one ounce and length of 5 inches. Largest owls (Eurasian Eagle-Owl and Blakiston's Fish Owl) can reach weight of around 10 pounds and a wingspan of 6.6 feet.
2. All owls can be divided in two large groups: barn and true owls. Barn owls are medium-sized birds with heart-shaped face, long legs and strong talons. Of all known owls, only 19 species belong to this group. True owls are more diverse group of owls with around 190 species that vary in size, color and appearance.
3. Owls are carnivores. They eat rodents, small mammals, fish, birds and insects.
4. Owls do not chew their food because, just like all other birds - they do not have teeth. If the prey is too large, owl uses its sharp beak to tear the prey apart.
5. Several owls species have ear tufts on their heads but they aren't ears at all. These tufts of feathers may indicate the bird's mood, help keep it camouflaged mimicking branches or leaves or be used to show aggression.
6. The flattened facial disk of an owl funnels sound to the bird's ears and magnifies it as much as ten times to help the owl hear noises humans can't detect.
7. An owl's eyes are supported by bony eye sockets and they cannot turn their eyes. Instead, owls rotate their heads up to 270 degrees (135 degrees to either side), but they cannot turn their heads all the way around.
8. An owl has three eyelids: one for blinking, one for sleeping and one for keeping the eye clean and healthy. The third eyelid is also called the nictitating membrane, and many other birds also have it.
9. A barn owl can eat up to 1,000 mice each year, usually swallowing them whole. Many farmers try to attract barn owls to help control rodent populations in agricultural fields.
10. Since owl eats the whole prey, it regurgitates (vomits) undigested material composed of bones, feathers, fur and teeth, in the form of hard pellets. Ornithologists (scientists which study birds) collect and examine these pellets when they want to investigate the type of diet characteristic for the owls that are living in certain area.
11. Barn owl is very beneficial for the farmers because it eliminates rodents in the barns and fields. It can eat up to 1000 mice each year.
12. Owl is very successful hunter because it can fly silently. Special kind of soft feathers muffle the sound of the moving wings, allowing the bird to approach the prey unnoticed.
13. Feather coloration is species specific. It can be brown, rust, gray, white and black. Mix of the colors provides nice camouflage for both predators and prey.
14. Some species of owls have ear-like structures on their head. They cannot detect sound, but serve as structures which provide camouflage. They can be also used to show aggression.
15. Owls have excellent sense of hearing. Ears are located on the both sides of the head, behind the eyes. They are often located on different heights, providing better reception of the sound, which is important for detection of the prey.

For more: elephants facts for kids

Some amazing pig facts

Here are some animal facts and news about pigs:

Newborn piglets learn to run to their mothers’ voices and to recognize their own names. Mother pigs sing to their young while nursing.

According to Professor Donald Broom of the Cambridge University Veterinary School, “[Pigs] have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated. Even more so than dogs and certainly [more so than human] 3-year-olds.”

A pig's squeal can be as loud as 115 decibels – that’s 3 decibels higher than the sound of a supersonic airliner.

Professor Stanley Curtis of Penn State University has found that pigs can play joystick-controlled video games and are “capable of abstract representation.” Dr. Curtis believes that “there is much more going on in terms of thinking and observing by these pigs than we would ever have guessed.”

Pigs do not “eat like pigs” or “pig out.” They prefer to eat slowly and savor their food.And when they’re not squealing, they’re talking. Pigs communicate constantly with each other, and more than 20 different vocalisations have been identified; from wooing a mate to saying ‘I’m hungry!”

And when they’re not either squealing or talking, pigs will eat almost anything – including human bones. In 2012, a farmer in Oregon, America, was eaten by his pigs after having a heart attack and falling into their enclosure. By the time a concerned relative came looking for him, only his dentures were left.

Pigs appear to have a good sense of direction and have found their way home over great distances. Adult pigs can run at speeds of up to 11 miles an hour.

Suzanne Held, who studies the cognitive abilities of farmed animals at the University of Bristol’s Centre of Behavioural Biology, says that pigs are “really good at remembering where food is located, because in their natural environment food is patchily distributed and it pays to revisit profitable food patches.”

For more detail tiger information for kids

List of amazing facts about tiger

Get tiger facts for kids. Our animal facts site has tiger information from tiger pictures, tiger facts and tiger videos.

• Tigers are the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and strength.
• The tiger is capable of killing animals over twice its size; it is one of nature’s most feared predators.
• Like its ancestor, the sabre-tooth cat, the tiger relies heavily on its powerful teeth for survival. If it loses its canines (tearing teeth) through injury or old age, it can no longer kill and is likely to starve to death.
• Tigers live alone and aggressively scent-mark large territories (up to 100sq km in size) to keep their rivals away.
• They are powerful nocturnal hunters that travel many miles to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals. A Bengal tiger can eat 21kg of meat in a night and can kill the equivalent of 30 buffaloes a year.
• The roar of a Bengal tiger can carry for over 2km at night.
• Although tigers are powerful and fast over short distances, the Bengal tiger cannot outrun fleet footed prey such as deer. Instead it uses stealth to catch its victims; attacking from the side or the rear.
• Tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage (no two have exactly the same stripes).

• If the kill is large, the tiger may drag the remains to a thicket and loosely bury it with leaves, then return to it later.
• As well as game animals, it preys on wild boar, monkeys, lizards and occasionally porcupines.
• Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male. Cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old and remain with their mothers for two to three years, when they disperse to find their own territory.
• Like domestic cats, all tigers can purr. Unlike their tame relatives, however, which can purr as they breathe both in and out, tigers purr only as they breathe out.
• Unlike other cats, tigers are good swimmers and often cool off in lakes and streams during the heat of the day.

Also see: penguins facts for kids

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Interesting information about sport science facts

Keep reading for more interesting information about interesting science facts: Sports aren't just for jocks. LiveScience delves into the psychology, physiology and physics of sports, from new studies in sports medicine to news about professional athletes and information for weekend warriors.

Olympic gold medals are actually made mostly of silver.

Dimples on a golf ball help reduce drag, allowing the ball to fly further than a ball without dimples.

Anaerobic exercise refers to high intensity activities over a short duration (e.g. sprinting) while aerobic exercise refers to physical activity performed at a moderate level over longer periods of time (e.g. jogging).

Regular exercise helps boost the immune system.

The string tension of most tennis racquets is around 50 to 70 pounds (220 to 310 newtons). With lower tension a tennis racquet produces less control and more power while higher tension produces more control and less power.

The official distance of a marathon is 42.195 kilometres (26.219 miles).

The tallest basketball players to ever play in the NBA were Manute Bol (from Sudan) and Gheorghe Muresan (from Romania). They were both 7 ft 7 in tall (231 cm).

Common sports injuries include muscle cramps, muscle pulls, back strains, shin splints, tennis elbow (tendonitis), sprained ankles and plantar fasciitis (foot pain).

The fastest recorded tennis serves are over 155 mph (250 kph).

Regulation Major League baseballs feature exactly 108 stitches.

Snowboarders and ice skaters glide on a thin layer of water as their skates and boards heat the snow beneath them.

Modern swimwear has developed to the point where the fabric and designs are actually faster through the water than human skin. Controversial neck to ankle suits have been one of the reasons behind the consistent breaking of world record times since they were introduced around the year 2000.

Curling stones used in the Olympic sport of curling are made from granite.

Astronaut Alan Shepard played golf on the Moon after he smuggled a golf ball and club on to the NASA Apollo 14 mission to the Moon in 1971.

The diameter of a full sized basketball is half the diameter of a basketball hoop.

For more random fact of the day

11 Amazing Game Facts

01. A game called Malice starring singer Gwen Stefani as the titular lead character was supposed to be a big-budget system-seller for Xbox. After years of delays it was finally released at a budget price on the console, and on PS2. Gwen Stefani's recorded dialogue was never used, nor was the planned 'No Doubt' soundtrack.

02. Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, got the idea for the worldwide Game Boy phenomenon after collecting caterpillars as a child and watching them change into butterflies.

03. Ever wondered what happens to Leon's cool leather jacket in Resident Evil 4? It inexplicably disappears after the scene in the village. Well, on the PS2 version, go through Ada's side-quest and one of the Ganado villagers will be wearing it.

04. In the early stages of its development, Half-Life 2 featured a friendly alien that would follow Gordon Freeman around, feasting on the bodies of his fallen enemies. It was taken out when Valve discovered that the AI would be too difficult to convincingly program.

05. In 1986, Nintendo released a special Disk System peripheral for the NES in Japan. Among its features was a microphone in the controller, which certain games used, including an updated version of the original Zelda. You could only destroy a certain enemy by shouting into the mic.

06. The famously awful E.T. game for the Atari 2600 actually sold more than its most famous game, Space Invaders. E.T. sold 1.5 million, while Invaders only shifted a million.

07. In the underground facility in Resident Evil 2 there's a locked room containing a dead Nemesis. Resident Evil 2 takes place after 3, which suggests Umbrella released more than one into Raccoon City.
08. Rockstar also removed a character from Grand Theft Auto 3, although this time it was said to be because of the terrorist attacks on September 11th. He was called Darkel, a homeless guy who'd get you to rig buildings with explosives.

09. In the video game sequel to John Carpenter's seminal sci-fi horror film The Thing, the legendary director made a cameo appearance as a character called Doctor Faraday. He also oversaw the production of the game to make sure it was faithful to his original vision.

10. In Pilotwings 64, the character Lark is actually the mascot for famous American games magazine Nintendo Power, Nester. His name was changed at the last minute, probably because PAL gamers wouldn't know who he was.

11. Super Mario World for the SNES took 29,000 hours to program. Luckily, it went on to sell 17 million copies and was the best-selling game of its generation.

12. Vivendi's underrated Scarface game also featured a sound-alike, but this one was personally chosen by Al Pacino himself, hence the spot-on likeness. His name is Andre Sogliuzzo and he's a veteran video game voice actor.

13. DJ Atomica, the (some would say) annoying announcer in Burnout Paradise, is the same guy who provided the commentary for SSX 3. In Paradise, he makes reference to SSX several times, suggesting it's supposed to be the same character.

14. The Little Sisters from BioShock didn't start their life as little girls at all, but rather tiny mole-like creatures who scuttled around Rapture collecting Adam. Early concept art also shows them as retro '50s-style robots, too. We think they made the right choice.

Syria young people rushing to catch Pokemon in the war

Although the region is in the war, but many teenagers to the streets in the city of Douma to go catch Pokemon Go.

Recently, a strange case that happened in Syria, the Islamic countries are being devastated by the war, as despite the dangers, many young teens are still trying to catch up on the street to ... Pokemon Go.

Indeed, although the region is in the war, but many teenagers to the streets in the city of Douma to go catch Pokemon Go. The strange this was a photographer is operational here quickly when this strange activity.

Accordingly, immediately after the widely opened in Syria, Pokemon Go continues to be the hottest mobile games in the country. Explaining the phenomenon of young teenager despite the dangers that come to the region ongoing war, many people believe that this is due to always shirk, or the activities of the community almost was no longer due to the war made for teens feel sad brow, not to be entertained.

Therefore, the Pokemon Go was released in this country has quickly become a source of fun pastime for young teens, who already had to stop and sit home schooling due to prolonged civil war in Syria.

It is reported that the Syrian civil war began in February and lasted 1/2011 continuously until now, for over 5 years now.

One Piece: Burning Blood will release on PC in September

One Piece: Burning Blood is a fighting game based battle group format with a character from the popular Japanese manga.

Recently, the company released Namco Bandai has announced that fighting game One Piece: Burning Blood will be released for the PC via Steam on October 1/9 for $ 50 (approximately 1.1 million) for the regular version or 75 USD for the Gold Edition includes all of the DLC will be released for the game in the future.

In One Piece: Burning Blood, players will take control of a team of 3 members can take turns alternately fighting - the same mechanism in the series One Piece: Pirate Warriors. Apart from increasing more strategy elements are also gamers can also combine with the team to launch a stronger attack.

Besides PC, One Piece: Burning Blood also landed on PS4, Xbox One and PSVita. These versions were launched between April to June this year. Game get evaluated fairly from the game page news, scores 66/100 on Metacritic aggregate page.