Regarding an owl's silent flight, I had often read of how their wing flight feathers have a design which, when they are in certain modes of flight, disturbs the air very little. This results in their nearly silent flight when they are diving on their prey. It was one thing to read of it, but when Gail told me of that big bird's silent flight right over the top of her head, I became a believer!
I think that the Western idea of owls has to do with the bird's association with Athena, who, in Ancient Greece, was the goddess of wisdom.
Many of the hawks and eagles were affected strongly by the widespread use of DDT as an insecticide here in the USA. This chemical would cause the eggshells of these birds to be very soft and weak, causing high mortality in their young. Some species nearly became extinct.
Out West in pastures, people would leave up telephone poles even after the lines were abandoned, because the hawks and eagles will use them as perches from which to surveil fields. The big birds of prey have been enjoying a comeback over here.
I agree with the idea that our notions of wild animal management (especially that of "kill all predators") has been very foolish and short-sighted. Hopefully it is not too late to act in their favor.
...unless you are Barbara Mori in Kites...
Barbara Mori is someone I was familiar with long before her affair with Hritik Roshan. She was a noted actress in Spanish language telenovelas, which I enjoy watching very much when I have the time. If I recall correctly, she is from Uruguay and part Japanese. Her big telenovela was
Rubi, but I did not watch that one. I don't think it was too long after that, that she took up with Hritik. My guru in Bollywood movies had a friend who saw Mori and Hritik "going to town" publicly in a Las Vegas casino not so long after the show. Anyway, because of this, in my circles, Hritik is not well looked upon, and the last movie of his I've seen was Jodhaa-Akbar. (And even for that, I got the "evil eye"!)
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