Why Is the Owl Considered Wise?
When a bird or animal has something unusual about its appearance or its habits, superstitions usually spring up about it. The owl is both a strange- looking bird and one that behaves quite differently from other birds. The result is that all kinds of legends have grown up about it. Did you know that in ancient times it was considered an unlucky bird? The Romans hated the owl so much that when it was seen and caught in the city in the daylight hours, it was burned and its ashes publicly scattered in the Tiber! Yet in England and elsewhere, it is often referred to as the wise old owl. This is probably due to its appearanceand not to any superior intelligence. Its great, staring eyes seem to be looking at you as if the owl were thinking very hard. Actually, those eyes are very sensitive to daylight.
The owl is not a wise animal. For its size, the owl has a small brain, and in fact, is not as smart as geese, crows, and ravens. However, from ancient times, people have used the owl as a symbol of wisdom. The very serious look on the owl’s face might have given people the idea that the owl was wise. It has large, bright, wide-a
