How Does That Barn Owl Hunt?

We at TRC believe learning can be fun, and wanted to share a great example of that!  Operant conditioning was used with the barn owl in this video; it learned to associate prey being offered/available when cued to a sound.  The slow-motion filming shows us how this owl angles its wings and feet as it approaches the prey.  You can see the bird approaching from above the prey, and then the camera is angled so you see it from the "prey's" point of view.