Nothing to do with owls, but it does remind me about a sci-fi book I read recently about an alien species who had this big taboo about being seen eating, like humans have about pooping. It was based around the fact that, to eat, they had to open their carapace and eject their stomach around the food: an extremely vulnerable behavior that evolved into a social taboo long after it had ceased to be a survival concern.
It makes me wonder if eating is the same with raptors: unless it’s in small, bite sized chunks, eating requires such attention and concentration that it makes them more vulnerable - especially if they have to be on the ground when doing it.
I’m not sure they could take off while swallowing. I didn’t really see much info on it. They are surely more vulnerable on the ground, and their food is roughly 15-20% of their body weight, so being caught mid-swallow sounds like a very compromising situation for them. I saw some mention of sharp shinned hawks being able to swallow while flying, but given raptors’ esophagus opening is at the back of the tongue, I’m not sure how that would work out to get enough air to keep flying.
Nothing to do with owls, but it does remind me about a sci-fi book I read recently about an alien species who had this big taboo about being seen eating, like humans have about pooping. It was based around the fact that, to eat, they had to open their carapace and eject their stomach around the food: an extremely vulnerable behavior that evolved into a social taboo long after it had ceased to be a survival concern.
It makes me wonder if eating is the same with raptors: unless it’s in small, bite sized chunks, eating requires such attention and concentration that it makes them more vulnerable - especially if they have to be on the ground when doing it.
I’m not sure they could take off while swallowing. I didn’t really see much info on it. They are surely more vulnerable on the ground, and their food is roughly 15-20% of their body weight, so being caught mid-swallow sounds like a very compromising situation for them. I saw some mention of sharp shinned hawks being able to swallow while flying, but given raptors’ esophagus opening is at the back of the tongue, I’m not sure how that would work out to get enough air to keep flying.