The Ryukyu Scops Owl is a small owl, found on the Amami Islands and the Japanese islands to the South.
It is most active at night when searching for the insects that make up its diet.
Forest roads that receive little traffic are an ideal location for them to hunt for prey.
One owl, and then another appears, flying down from the thick forest vegetation.
But how is it that they search out the insects that are their prey in the pitch black of night?
The photoreceptor cells used by scops owls and other owl species to detect light are about 100 times denser than those found in human eyes.
While this allows them to detect even minute amounts of light, if anything,
it is their sense of hearing that is phenomenal.
A scops owl’s ears are slightly asymmetrically located,
enabling them to detect the direction and even the distance of faint noises.
This asymmetrical ear structure becomes more prominent in larger owls.
The ability to distinguish the faint sound of beating wings in total darkness and fly in to catch prey without the slightest sound.
This is a nocturnal hunter in command of superb sensors.
The islands of the Ryukyu chain where the Ryukyu Scops Owl lives is a treasure-house of precious fauna and flora.
This is especially true of Amami-Oshima Island, the only place on the planet inhabited by species like the Amami Rabbit and Amami Jay.
The Ryukyu Scops Owl, whose cry is recognized as differing between the various islands it inhabits,
is a species ripe for further scientific research.
In order to preserve this precious natural treasure for the next generation,
it is essential that we understand what kind of superb sensors living things use to adapt and survive in their natural environment.
Humans do not have such refined sensors with which to measure the natural world.
However, humankind posses the power of analysis, one that goes beyond our natural limitations.
The protection of this diverse and beautiful earth through the analysis of nature is a mission that has been entrusted to humankind.