Animal Ears 🦉 How animals hear
Owl hearing range in hertz
Tyto alba
It catches a mouse in total darkness on hearing alone, and doesn't miss.
In short
A Owl hears from about 200 Hz up to 12 kHz, and the pitch it catches best is near 6.3 kHz. Animal Ears lets you take any sound of yours and hear it exactly as it would.
The barn owl doesn't have a spectacular range (200 to 12,000 Hz), but it has frightening precision. Its two ears sit at different heights, one slightly higher than the other, so the same sound reaches each with a minute difference. Its brain cross-references that and works out the exact spot: up, down, left, right. It can catch a mouse in absolute darkness guided only by the tiny noise it makes as it moves.
Hertz (Hz)
Which pitches it hears
Hertz count how many times per second a sound vibrates. Few vibrations = low (the rumble of thunder, about 30 Hz). Many vibrations = high (a microwave beeping, about 3,000 Hz). And ‘1 kHz' is just shorthand for 1,000 Hz. You hear, roughly, from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
A low sound rumbles (think thunder); a high sound squeals (think a mosquito). These three numbers mark how far down this animal goes, how far up it goes, and which pitch it hears most clearly of all.
| Lowest it hears | 200 Hz |
|---|---|
| Highest it hears | 12 kHz |
| Hears most clearly | 6.3 kHz |
| What you hear | 20 Hz – 20 kHz |
Your ears vs a Owl's
It does miss the highs you can hear, though: above about 12 kHz there is nothing left for it.
Audiogram
| Hertz (Hz) | Hearing threshold |
|---|---|
| 100 Hz | 55 dB |
| 250 Hz | 32 dB |
| 500 Hz | 18 dB |
| 1 kHz | 6 dB |
| 2 kHz | -2 dB |
| 3 kHz | -9 dB |
| 4 kHz | -12 dB |
| 6.3 kHz | -14 dB |
| 8 kHz | -10 dB |
| 10 kHz | 12 dB |
| 12 kHz | 40 dB |
Behavioural audiogram; the barn owl ear is among the most sensitive of any vertebrate (~-14 dB near 6 kHz). Asymmetric ears give localisation, not extra bandwidth.
Can a Owl hear things you can't?
A Owl picks up everything from 200 Hz (the deepest) to 12 kHz (the highest), and hears best around 6.3 kHz.
It does miss the highs you can hear, though: above about 12 kHz there is nothing left for it.
Frequently asked questions
What sounds can a Owl hear?
A Owl picks up everything from 200 Hz (the deepest) to 12 kHz (the highest), and hears best around 6.3 kHz.
Can a Owl hear things you can't?
It does miss the highs you can hear, though: above about 12 kHz there is nothing left for it.
How does Animal Ears make a sound like a Owl would hear it?
Scientists have measured, pitch by pitch, the quietest volume at which a Owl starts to hear each sound. We take that curve and apply it to your recording like a giant equaliser: we turn up the pitches the animal hears beautifully and turn down or remove the ones that simply don't exist for it. The result gets close to what it would notice... but it still arrives through your ears.
Hertz (Hz)
Hertz count how many times per second a sound vibrates. Few vibrations = low (the rumble of thunder, about 30 Hz). Many vibrations = high (a microwave beeping, about 3,000 Hz). And ‘1 kHz' is just shorthand for 1,000 Hz. You hear, roughly, from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
Where these numbers come from
- Dyson, M.L., Klump, G.M. & Gauger, B. (1998). Absolute hearing thresholds… in the barn owl. J. Comp. Physiol. A, 182(5), 695–702. doi:10.1007/s003590050214
- Konishi, M. (1973). How the owl tracks its prey. American Scientist, 61(4), 414–424.
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