Silent flight
Question: Last week, on a very dark evening, I was walking down a country
lane and was startled by a low-flying owl. Although it passed within a few
metres of my head, I didn’t hear it at all, and became aware of it only when it
flew into vision. How can an owl fly so silently?
Answer: Owls have a number of features which aid silent flight. First, they
have a relatively small wing loading, that is a large wing area relative to
their body weight. This means that, compared to other birds, they put less
effort into…
