Some people think that we owls can turn our heads all the way around. Well, we can turn them a little more that half way, but not all the way around.

We have 14 vertebrae in our necks. (You humans only have 7 vertebrae in your necks.) Having so many vertebrae in such a short area allows us to turn our head about 200 degrees. That is a little more than half way.

If you tried to twist a short tube 200 degrees around it would pinch. You might think that the blood vessel that carries blood to our brains would pinch in the same way. To keep us from passing out when we turn our heads, we have neck blood vessels that are specially designed to keep the blood flowing to our brains.

Here is how we can trick you humans into thinking that we can turn our heads all the way around.

My real starting point is at the red star. I turn my head 200 degrees to the right while you are not looking. (the blue arrow) When you first see me, I am looking backwards. Since you only just saw me, you think that I am looking forward.

When I turn my head to the left, I have really turned back to my starting point. You think that I have turned my head 200 degrees to the left and you think that I am now looking backwards.

Now, from my starting point, I turn 200 degrees to the left. To you it looks like I turned my head all the way around, 400 degrees to the left.

I read about how special owl necks are in Mark Wilson’s book, Owling, Enter the World of the Mysterious Birds of the Night.