Superbowl

Photos by Shaun McNaughton

I've described for you before my experiences with owl feathers being much less dense and rigid than I'd have expected, and these photos really capture that. Having some give to them lets the individual barbs move around, decreasing the flapping noise.

This is also likely why they have larger wings for their size than other birds, to make up for the loss of lift for not having denser flight feathers.