Why Do Owls Have Long Legs?

Yes, owls really do have long legs – they are usually just hidden beneath dense layers of feathers. The length helps owls strike prey from above feet-first, gives them good balance in flight by keeping their centre of mass low when those legs are tucked up, lets them perch on branches for hours, and provides a heat-shedding surface that keeps them comfortable in chilly forests. A few ground-dwelling species, like the burrowing owl, even use those legs to run after insects.

Animals never cease to amaze me. One of my favorite things to while away time is watching funny animal content online. It was on one such day when I came across a barrage of pictures of owl legs, like the one below. 

Some owls have more legs than body! They could be the supermodels of the animal kingdom. This obviously made me wonder why owls have such long legs.

Of course, science had the answer. And now Science ABC does too!

Do Owls Have Long Legs?

It turns out, yes. Compared to many birds, owls do have long legs. However, one must remember that biology is the science of exception, so this doesn’t apply to all owls.

Most owls do have long legs, and there are specific reasons and functions for that. 

Silent Assassination

Owls hunt their prey like ninja assassins, silent and swift. Owls land feet first, from above, delivering a fatal blow to their target using sharp talons.

To give them a good attack angle, they need to have long slender legs. Like most other birds that hunt with their legs, owl legs link to an angled pelvis. Like all birds, they actually carry a reduced, splinter-like fibula that runs only about two-thirds of the way down the lower leg, not a long one. What really gives an owl its extra reach and grip is the outermost of its four toes, which can swivel forward or backward to handle squirming prey, an unusual trick that most other birds of prey lack.

Moreover, their long legs and the sharp talons at the end allow them to keep their most sensitive organs, their eyes, at a distance. Occasionally, an owl might land one attack with their sharp beaks to finish the job, but the talons do most of the work. They constrict their prey or stab them to death. This avoids any stray attacks from a flailing animal to the owls’ eyes, which can be a death sentence.

Don’t let the word ‘slender’ fool you. Owl legs are strong enough to drive those talons shut with startling force. A great horned owl can apply at least 2,100 kilopascals (300 pounds per square inch) of crushing power through its talons, comfortably more than a human hand can manage. Those feet are strong lifters too. A great horned owl weighs only around 1.2 to 1.6 kilograms (2.7 to 3.5 pounds), yet it can take flight carrying prey of roughly one and a half times its own body weight, and it is powerful enough to kill animals several times heavier still.

Soaring Up High

Have you ever seen an owl in flight? With those large majestic wings flapping gracefully to carry their small body, it’s truly a sight to see. It might surprise you to know that those supermodel legs they have also aid in their flight.

Like many other birds, owls have long legs to centralize their body weight. Their thigh muscles are compact and close to the body, and their extremities are bony, long and thin for even weight distribution. 

Crank Up The Air-con, Please!

Many owls live in cold climates; the snowy owl and the great gray owl are big fans of the cold. One of the features that allow them to live there are their long bony legs. The thigh muscles of the legs are close to the body; the lower half of their legs being bony with tendons. This lets them perch on trees for hours in the cold without having to worry about frostbite. 

These owls also have thick rich plumage to help with the cold. This plumage often extends down to their talons. Still, it helps that the feathers only have to cover up skinny legs, instead of larger muscles. 

It’s An Illusion

Owl legs, much like the legs of most other birds, are built differently than ours. If we look at their anatomy, their ankles are quite high up. The obvious backward-facing joint that one could easily mistake as the “knee” of the leg is really the ankle. Whatever comes below is only the lower leg. The foot is also significantly different from ours. They have one long slender bone for a foot, unlike the multiple smaller ones that our feet contain.

This is not to say that birds don’t have knees. They do, but they are much higher and often covered by their feathers. The thighs of a bird are also a lot shorter and more compact, as discussed earlier. 

Hence, this leg structure, with high-placed ankles and long lower legs gives many birds the appearance of longer legs. Additionally, most birds stand on their toes. Now, who hasn’t done that for a photo? 

Do Owls Have Knees?

Yes, owls most definitely have knees; they just keep them well hidden. As we saw above, the joint you can actually see is the ankle, so where does that leave the knee? To find it, it helps to know how a bird’s leg is put together. Working down from the body, there are three main segments: the femur (the thigh bone), then the tibiotarsus (the long bone we tend to picture as the shin), and finally the tarsometatarsus, a fused foot bone that only birds possess, before the toes and talons begin.

The true knee sits right at the top, where the femur meets the tibiotarsus, and just like ours it bends forward rather than backward. The catch is that the femur is short and held tight against the body, so the whole knee is tucked up high and smothered under plumage. The prominent joint we misread as a backward-bending knee lower down is really the intertarsal joint, the owl’s ankle. Owls are also digitigrade, meaning they stand permanently on their toes, which lifts that ankle even further off the ground. A forward-bending knee hidden up near the body, plus a pair of tip-toe feet, is the whole recipe behind the owl’s strange-looking leg.

How Long Are An Owl’s Legs?

Because so much of an owl’s leg is buried in feathers, judging its true length by eye is nearly impossible. Ornithologists get around this by measuring the tarsus, the exposed lower leg bone, which gives them a reliable, feather-free yardstick. In the great horned owl, for instance, the tarsus alone runs about 54 to 80 millimetres (2.1 to 3.1 inches), and a fully spread foot stretches roughly 20 centimetres (7.9 inches) from talon to talon. Extended fully in a hunting stoop, the complete leg is far longer than the stubby stump you see on a perched, fluffed-up bird.

Proportion matters more than raw length, though. The undisputed champion is the burrowing owl, a pint-sized bird just 19 to 25 centimetres (7.5 to 9.8 inches) tall that carries noticeably longer legs than any other owl for its size. Those stilt-like legs are an adaptation to life on open grassland, where the extra height helps it peer over the grass and sprint after insects. So while nearly every owl is leggier than it looks, a handful of species have pushed the trait to a genuine extreme.

Can They Run With Those Long Legs?

Naturally, you must be wondering whether owls can use these long and strong legs to run. Technically, yes, owls can run. And yes, they would make for very fast sprinters. The burrowing owl can be seen running on the ground and even running to catch their prey. 

However, they are the exception. Most owls prefer to use their strong legs to perch on trees for long hours and fly down to hunt. You might even catch some owls standing on one foot. With one backwards-facing talon for grip and three forward-facing ones, owls have great balance, even on just one foot. Therefore, they often switch between legs to avoid straining either one while standing for hours. 

Want To See Some Owl Legs?

The best time to see an owl’s legs is when they sweep down to hunt their dinner. With long angled legs stretching out 4 sharp talons, their legs definitely demand an audience. Just make sure those talons aren’t coming for you. 

If you’re in the southern parts of America, consider yourself lucky. Burrowing owls can be found year round in parts of Florida and Mexico. You can find them walking and running on the ground. The reason for their name is because they often use their legs to burrow into the ground where they nest.

Owls stand out from most birds as particularly majestic creatures. It’s not just the long legs that catch your eye. The eyes of the owl, unlike most other birds, are similar to our own eyes. This is because they face forwards, giving them an almost human appearance. This could explain why there are so many legends about them and why so many cultures revere them. And also why there are tons of pictures of them online!