Face Feathers

The Barn Owl that visits my workshop sits on one of the beams, and seems to spend lots of time preening.  In the morning I find the feathers on the workshop floor.

Recently the feathers have been from the Barn Owl’s face – small, almost bristly feathers, stiff and strongly curved.  Some have the gentle yellowy colour at their tips, others are white.  These feathers grow to make up the shape of the disc surrounding the eye – the heart-shaped hollow which typifies the Barn Owl, is what enables it to hear so well.