Sometimes, we just wish we could press the ‘unsee’ button—and that is what happened to many of us after author Dana Schwartz tweeted a shocking picture of a naked owl. “I just googled what featherless owls look like, and I am severely shaken,” the woman writes.

The Naked Owl

Dana followed it up with a tweet where a regular owl meets her featherless relative and an owl skeleton, calling the scene the ‘spookiest meeting of all time.’

The experts seem to confirm that, yes, this is actually what these birds look like underneath their glorious owl feathers. The deputy director of World Bird Sanctuary, Jeffrey Meshach, said in the second photo, “The bird in the center is what a barn owl would look like with almost no feathers.” He added: “It’s actually a great photo showing how much feathers change the appearance of a bird skeleton.”

Why Do Owls Lose Feathers?

Beyond creating a majestic impact, feathers play other important, life-depending roles like insulation, camouflage, or the enigmatic silent flight of the owls. Unfortunately, they can turn featherless due to many reasons.

Like other birds, owls go through the natural molting cycle of shedding old feathers for new ones. However, stress, illness, or harsh environmental conditions can cause issues while molting, and the owls might end up featherless. Injuries, diseases, infections, genetic mutations, or hormonal changes will also leave the owl without feathers. 

It’s quite a rare sight to see these regal birds featherless, as it’s not a natural thing. They need special care to regrow their plumage during such times. It’s best to approach wildlife experts to provide these nocturnal wonders with the professional care they need.

A Featherless Owl Set the Internet on Fire

All the shocking owl pictures were just a little bit too much for the internet to handle, with people saying these owls without feathers in the picture might as well be dinosaurs or aliens. It also started a line of tweets showing featherless and furless animals in response to Schwartz’s horrifying photo. Here’s how people reacted to the owl without fur:

Owl Without Feathers: Shocking and Unforgettable!

We don’t know about you guys, but we are still not over it all, especially the weirdness of the owl skull. It sure is a sight that we, or anyone for that matter, can’t forget easily. And owls will never be the same again! Did the pictures leave you questioning everything about owls, too? If so, don’t forget to leave your shocked thoughts in the comments. Also, share this with fellow bird lovers and give them a fright!

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