Comment on Can someone fact check this
snowe@programming.dev 14 hours ago
The barn owl (the most common owl on the planet) weighs max 700g (listed on Table 1 here birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/…/appearance#meas but you need a subscription). So like 1.5 lbs.
Birds don’t really migrate east/west, and owls hardly migrate at all, and only a few species, not really barn owls. I’m not sure if there is an owl that migrates like that but even if it was true, tiny ruby throated hummingbirds migrate nonstop across the gulf. Weight doesn’t really matter.
Kilowatt is a rate of energy, not an amount. So let’s calculate that. And energy use in owls is documented on birds of the world as well. Flight speed is 80 km/h birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/…/behavior#locom
Energy use is 360.4 kJ/d, let’s triple that for continual flight across the ocean (idk I’m just making that up since this is all fake anyway), so 1081.2, we’ll round up to 1100.
Estimates of daily food consumption rates are limited. One captive female consumed a mean of 60.5 g/d over one year, amounting to 10.1% of her mass daily; consumption varied from 46.4 g/d in the warmest periods to 74.0 g/d in the coldest times (147). Two American Barn Owl consumed a mean of 74.1 g/d over a 10 d trial in August; it was estimated that energy use was 360.4 kJ/d (148). Other measures of daily food intake for wild American Barn Owl estimated from pellet contents range from 110 g/d in summer in Colorado (113) to a mean of 150 g/d over 1 yr in California (149). The mean gross energy intake for 4 (1 female, 3 males) sedentary American Barn Owl was 68.9 kcal/d; mean existence energy was 54.6 kcal/d, resulting in 79.3% efficiency in food utilization (150).
I just measured across from Massachusetts to Portugal, around 3000 mi or 4800 km. About 60 hours, so 1100 kJ/24h / 24/h x 60 h = 2750kJ = 657265.774 Calorie.
So yeah, very fake.