The barn owl has ears at different heights to pinpoint sounds in darkness.
Its ears are positioned asymmetrically on the sides of the skull: one opening is higher than the other. This arrangement creates tiny differences in the arrival time and intensity of a sound at each ear. The owl’s brain uses those differences to locate prey, even when vegetation or darkness hides the animal.
The barn owl’s heart-shaped facial disc also helps funnel sound toward the ears. Its pale plumage, silent flight and nocturnal hunting style make it especially dependent on hearing. Laboratory and field research has shown that barn owls can strike prey using sound cues alone.
The uneven ear openings are not visible as external “ears” like those of mammals. The ear tufts seen on some other owls, such as great horned owls, are feathers and are unrelated to this sound-localization adaptation.