Today we spent the all day in Santa Cruz Island, which is the second largest of this archipelago and has the largest population. This is one of the islands that receives more rainfall than any other island in Galapagos, and is therefore very green. We had a delicious lunch in a local restaurant in the highlands surrounded by tropical fruit trees and were very lucky to see a barn owl in the roof of the restaurant. This is one of the three raptors that exist in the islands and is a nocturnal feeder.
Owls have exceptional binocular vision, however, due to the position of their eyes. When both eyes can see the same object at the same time, as in humans, the depth of field increases considerably. This allows the viewer to distinguish the contours of objects and gauge distances more accurately. In owls, 60 to 70 percent of their vision is binocular. In insectivorous birds it is 25 to 50 percent, and in seed-eating birds it is 10 to 30 percent. Unlike other birds, nocturnal raptors, especially great horned owls and barn owls, have a very well developed sense of hearing. This allows them to capture prey in total darkness. The barn owl's ears are asymmetrical, with the left one slightly higher than the right. This enables them to detect prey more precisely. They are also more sensitive to certain noises than others and can easily detect high-frequency sounds.
