From Badger Run Wildlife Rehab
Owls are shape shifters. They routinely make themselves look bigger or smaller depending on the situation. Sometimes they make themselves look long and thin in order to camouflage (look more like a branch when sitting in a tree). Other times, they puff up to look huge and scary when threatened.
The pictures below (*above now!) are of an African owl, the White-faced Scops owl. And no, this is not photoshop. They absolutely can skinny-up like this.
(Photo posted by Avian Conservation & Education Network back in 2018)
Even more? Now i’m scared, what other evil tricks do these feathery demons have up their sleeves?
Silent flight, able to hunt in pitch black, immensely powerful vision, three-dimensional hearing that can often enable them to “see” through objects, tremendous grip strength for their talons that spring shut automatically on contact and lock in place with a ratcheting mechanism, and exceptional camouflage. I’m sure I’ve left out a thing or 2, but owls have a lot of tools at their disposal.