From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a brilliant scientific investigation into owls—the most elusive of birds—and why they exert such a hold on human imagination

For millennia, people have been obsessed with and enchanted by owls. But only lately have scientists begun to understand in deep detail the complex nature of these extraordinary birds. Some 260 species of owls exist today, and they reside on every continent except Antarctica, but they are far more difficult to find and study than other birds because they’re cryptic, camouflaged, and mostly active in the dark of night. Now, with the help ofnew tools and technology, researchers are revealing the secrets of these enigmatic birds—how they talk to one another, how they “see” sound, and howthey fly quiet as moths; how they court their mates in wild and outlandish ways, fiercely protect their nests, migrate huge distances, and survive the radically changing conditions of our planet. This book tells the extraordinary story of how we’ve come to understand owls, their biology, brains, and behavior, and explores their many surprises: some owls live in underground burrows; some roost in large groups; some adopt orphan young; some dine on black widows and scorpions; some listen for the faint rustle of a vole deep beneath more than a foot and a half of snow.

Jennifer Ackerman brings this research alive with her own personal field observations about owls and dives deep into why these birds beguile us. What an Owl Knows is a spellbinding exploration of owls across the globe and through human history and a brilliant account of thrilling new insights into the science of their hunting skills, communication, sensory prowess, and other astonishing adaptations for survival.