---
title: How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and owl myths — how Mova does on the tests · Biology
description: Lesson 302 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 3 of 11 tests right, exam 1 of 4, every question with the options, the student's choice, the right answer and why it chose.
---

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# How owls work: silent wings, turning heads, pellets and owl myths

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**Tests:** 3 of 11 right · **Exam:** 1 of 4 right · **Kind:** ★ · **Understood:** 10 of 15 · **Run:** 2026-10-18, commit `f3c23ea72`

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Lesson 302 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/).

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Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: [the lesson's questions in the corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/).

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### Test 1 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t1}

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Count them: a pellet holds the skulls of 2 voles and 3 shrews. How many animals did the owl eat?

- **1.** 3 — **← Mova's choice** · score 3
- **2.** 10 — score 3
- **3.** 5 — **✓ the right answer** · score 3
- **4.** 6 — score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 3, tied with another option at 3 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 259, line 12: «The blue whale, the biggest animal ever, eats tiny krill, up to several tonnes a day.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «eat» (+2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). The right option, 3, scored 3. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t1/)

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### Test 2 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t2}

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Count them: two owls blink. How many eyelids do they have altogether?

- **1.** 8 — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** 12 — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** 4 — no support
- **4.** 6 — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t2/)

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### Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t3}

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Count them: you have 7 neck bones. How many more does an owl have?

- **1.** 14 more — score -1
- **2.** 7 more — **✓ the right answer** · score -1
- **3.** Only 2 more — **← Mova's choice** · score 0
- **4.** None, it has the same — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 0, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 106, line 7: «Snowy owls hunt in daylight in the Arctic summer, when the sun never sets, and eat mostly lemmings, raising many more chicks in good lemming years; Hedwig in H…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+1). Against it: the same doer «snowy owls» (-1). The right option, 2, scored -1. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t3/)

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### Test 4 · ★ · right ✓ {#t4}

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In Winnie-the-Pooh, Owl is the clever one who knows everything, yet spells his own name «Wol». What is true about real owls?

- **1.** They are the only birds that can count to ten and beyond — no support
- **2.** They are the cleverest of all birds, much cleverer than crows — score 2
- **3.** They are superb hunters but not especially good at puzzles — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 6
- **4.** They can learn to read and write — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 302, line 14: «Owls are skilled hunters but not especially good at puzzles; crows and parrots do much better. The wise-owl idea comes partly from ancient Athens, where the li…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «puzzles» (+4); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+2). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t4/)

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### Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t5}

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«bruv, owls can spin their heads right round like in the cartoon» What is right?

- **1.** Yes, round and round many times without stopping — no support
- **2.** Yes, but only once a day — no support
- **3.** No, owls cannot move their heads — **← Mova's choice** · score 0
- **4.** No, about three quarters of a circle at most — **✓ the right answer** · no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 139, line 7: «Sheep and goats have long rectangular pupils lying sideways; when they bend to graze their eyes turn so the pupil stays level, and they can see almost all the…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «move» (+3); the same thing acted on «heads» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t5/)

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### Test 6 · ★ · right ✓ {#t6}

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«gross, we're poking owl poo in science??» What is the best answer?

- **1.** No, a pellet is coughed-up fur and bones, not poo — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** No, pellets are made in factories for schools — no support
- **3.** Yes, it is owl poo dried in a bag — no support
- **4.** Yes, owls make little balls of poo to feed their chicks — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t6/)

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### Test 7 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t7}

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What would happen if an owl had flight feathers as stiff and smooth as a pigeon's?

- **1.** It would stop needing to hunt — **← Mova's choice** · score 1
- **2.** Mice would hear it coming and escape more often — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** It would fly in total silence — score 1
- **4.** It would see much better at night — score 1

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 301, line 9: «Blakiston's fish owl of the Russian Far East and Japan is one of the heaviest owls; it grabs salmon with rough, spiky soles and needs old hollow trees by river…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t7/)

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### Test 8 · ★ · right ✓ {#t8}

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Grandad says an owl calling at night means bad luck is coming. What is true?

- **1.** It is an old story; the owl calls to keep its patch or find a partner — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **2.** Owls call only when someone is ill — score -3
- **3.** Owls call only before a storm — score -3
- **4.** It is true in every country of the world, as everyone knows — no support

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 2, against -3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 12, line 3: «Every animal has its own trick for the cold months: the squirrel buries acorns, the hedgehog sleeps through winter in a nest of leaves, the owl keeps hunting i…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «keep» (+3). Against it: the same doer «owl» (-1). · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t8/)

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### Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t9}

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You see a short-eared owl hunting over a field at noon. What is most likely?

- **1.** It is sleep-walking — no support
- **2.** It is a kind that often hunts by day, maybe feeding chicks — **✓ the right answer** · score 2
- **3.** It is blinded by the sun and has got lost — **← Mova's choice** · score 3
- **4.** It must be a ghost owl — score 0

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 302, line 16: «Many owls hunt at dawn and dusk, and the little owl and short-eared owl often hunt by day; owls are not blinded by daylight, because their pupils shrink like o…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «blind» (+3); the same thing acted on «owls» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, scored 2. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t9/)

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### Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t10}

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Why might an owl bob and sway its head when it looks at you?

- **1.** Because it is dancing to some music only it can hear — no support
- **2.** Because its neck is aching — no support
- **3.** To judge how far away you are from different views — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** Because its eyes roll around inside — **← Mova's choice** · score 0

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**Why:** It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 212, line 1: «Look closely at a chicken's scaly feet, sharp claws and beady eye as it stalks across the yard, and you are looking at a living dinosaur.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «eye» (+1). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t10/)

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### Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗ {#t11}

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What would happen to an owl's brain if the arteries in its neck were pinched when it turned?

- **1.** Nothing, because brains need no blood — **← Mova's choice** · score 1
- **2.** It would grow a new brain — score 1
- **3.** It could lose blood, which is why owls have wide holes for the arteries — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** It would turn its head faster — score 1

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**Why:** It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 17, line 11: «Baby chimps drink their mother's milk for about 4 or 5 years; big brains take a long time to grow and learn, so apes and humans have long childhoods, and human…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/t11/)

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### Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e1}

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Identify the principal function of the comb-like leading edge and soft fringes of the flight feathers of owls.

- **1.** The storage of water for use in hot weather — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The reduction of the noise of flight by breaking the air into minute swirls — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **3.** The production of a loud warning sound during flight, by which rivals are deterred — no support
- **4.** The attraction of prey by means of a visual display — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/e1/)

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### Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e2}

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Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the rotation of the head of an owl.

- **1.** The head may be rotated without limit through repeated complete circles — **← Mova's choice** · no support
- **2.** The head is incapable of any rotation whatsoever — no support
- **3.** The head may be rotated approximately two hundred and seventy degrees, but not through a complete circle — **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **4.** The head may be rotated only ninety degrees in each direction — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/e2/)

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### Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓ {#e3}

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Which of the following statements most accurately characterises an owl pellet?

- **1.** A mass of indigestible fur and bone regurgitated by the owl — **← Mova's choice** · **✓ the right answer** · no support
- **2.** A store of food concealed by the owl beneath leaves for the winter — no support
- **3.** An unfertilised egg discarded from the nest — no support
- **4.** The faeces of the owl after complete digestion — no support

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**Why:** No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/e3/)

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### Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗ {#e4}

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Ascertain the reason for which an owl obtains sufficient water without frequent drinking.

- **1.** Owls drink only once in each season — no support
- **2.** Owls require no water whatever for survival — **← Mova's choice** · score 5
- **3.** The bodies of its prey consist largely of water — **✓ the right answer** · score 4
- **4.** Owls absorb water through their feathers from the air — score 3

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**Why:** It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 226, line 1: «Walking through a meadow, a family finds a baby deer curled up alone in the long grass and wants to rescue it, but its mother is almost certainly nearby, feedi…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «want» (+3); the same doer «family» (+2). The right option, 3, scored 4. · [the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/302-how-owls-work-silent-wings-turning-heads-pellets-and-owl-myths/e4/)

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- ← previous: [301. Owls of the world: barn owls, eagle owls, elf ow…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/301-owls-of-the-world-barn-owls-eagle-owls-elf-owls-and-burrowing-owls/)
- next →: [303. Parrots of the world: macaws, cockatoos, African…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/303-parrots-of-the-world-macaws-cockatoos-african-greys-lorikeets-and-the-cheeky-kea/)
- ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/)