I am sure many of you have seen the viral video of an owl supposedly swimming (see image below) and this may have brought you to this post. Otherwise maybe you are just interested to know if owls can swim and the answer is…
Well essentially yes, that video shows it is possible for owls to swim but are they good at swimming and are they meant to swim? No… owls will only swim if they must, if they have accidentally fallen into a body of water for example. Otherwise, swimming is not a natural skill for owls and I will explain why in this post.
Owls are probably only able to swim for a short period of time, and for a short distance in order to escape the water and get to dry land. The bird will feel extremely distressed in water and will be in survival mode. Owls enjoy water for bathing in, but only in levels of water that mean they can still easily stand and stay in control. The problem with becoming entirely submerged is that owls feathers are not actually waterproof. Please see my other post titled ‘Can Owls Fly In The Rain’ which explains how owls avoid the rain because their feathers are not suitable for damp weather and swimming causes the exact same problems.
The beauty of an owls silent flight is all because of there lack of a preen gland. This preen gland enables other species of bird to waterproof their feathers. Because owls feathers are not waterproof, they are able to fly silently. When an owl gets wet their feathers become waterlogged and this means they lose their ability to fly and their ability to keep warm. Sadly drowning is a cause of death for many owls who accidentally land in deep levels of water and cannot escape such as inside an animal trough. Owls talons are also not made for swimming, they cannot create very good propulsions so until they reach a shore, escape is impossible.
Therefore, an owl will manage to swim for a short period in an emergency situation and can escape in some scenarios but it is not generally something they would choose to do as they know the dangers of deep levels of water.
