Owls Overhead

Owls Overhead, written by Karen Mokler.

《头顶猫头鹰》，作者：卡伦·莫克勒

Flying in the Moonlight It's a quiet, moonlit night, and you walk along a dirt path on the edge of town. Suddenly, a shadow crosses your path, but you hear no sound. You look up as a dark shape glides over you and disappears into the nearby trees. It's an owl, one of more than 200 different species of owls that live around the world. They come in many sizes and live on every continent except Antarctica.

月光下飞翔 这是一个静谧的月夜，你沿着城镇边缘的泥土小路散步 突然一道黑影掠过你面前，可你没听到一点声响 你抬头看去，一个黑影从你头顶滑过，消失进了附近的树林 这就是猫头鹰，全世界一共生活着200多种猫头鹰 它们体型各异，除南极洲外，每个大陆都有它们的踪迹

Eyes for the night. Many of the adaptations that help owls survive also make them seem mysterious. For instance, most owls hunt at night. As a result, they don't have to compete with daytime hunters such as eagles, hawks, and falcons. Like most birds, owls can't move their eyes in their sockets. Instead, owls must turn their heads to track a moving object. Owls are able to rotate their heads almost all the way around 280 degrees. They can even turn their heads upside down.

适配黑夜的眼睛 猫头鹰那些帮它们生存的身体特征，也让它们看起来格外神秘 比如，大多数猫头鹰都在夜间捕猎 这样它们就不用和鹰、鹞、隼这些白日猎手争抢食物 和大多数鸟类一样，猫头鹰的眼球没法在眼眶里转动 所以猫头鹰必须转动脖子，才能追踪移动的目标 猫头鹰几乎可以把头转整整280度 它们甚至还能把头转到朝下呢

Owls' big eyes are an adaptation, too. These birds can't see in total darkness. However, their pupils, the black circles in the center of their eyes, can grow large to let in more light. Their large pupils let them see better in low light than most animals. In fact, when light is Tawny owls see as much as 100 times better than humans.

猫头鹰的大眼睛也是一种适应性特征哦 这种鸟儿没法在完全黑暗的环境里看见东西 不过它们的瞳孔，也就是眼睛中央的黑色圆圈，可以放大，让更多光线进来 大大的瞳孔让它们在弱光下，比大多数动物看得更清楚 实际上，光线昏暗时，灰林鸮的视力是人类的100倍

As good as their night vision is, owls can't see things close to their faces. Instead, hair -like feathers work like feelers to help owls react to things they touch, Sort of like a cat's whiskers.

尽管猫头鹰夜视能力很棒，它们却看不见离脸很近的东西 它们长着类似毛发的羽毛，就像触觉器官一样感知触碰的物体，有点像猫咪的胡须哦

even better ears. To hunt, however, most owls rely on their hearing. Most owls have huge ears with one higher than the other. The higher one hears sounds from above, while the lower one hears sounds from below. Their flat, round faces help funnel sounds to their ears. By moving the

更厉害的耳朵 不过大多数猫头鹰捕猎，主要依靠的是听觉 大多数猫头鹰的耳朵很大，而且两只耳朵一高一低 位置高的耳朵接收来自上方的声音，位置低的接收来自下方的声音 它们扁平的圆脸能帮着把声音汇集到耳朵里 通过转动