Why can the same soft barn-owl feathers that mute flight make rainy hunting worse?

Answer: The soft, velvety feathers are not waterproof, so once wet they turn heavy and noisy and fly poorly

The soft, velvety feathers are not waterproof, so once wet they turn heavy and noisy and fly poorly ✓ — Correct! A barn owl's feathers carry a velvety pile and comb-like fringes that muffle the rush of air, and the trade-off is that they lack the tight, oiled structure that sheds water. Soaked feathers clump, weigh more and rustle, so the owl flies worse and louder, which is why barn owls hunt poorly in heavy rain and can go hungry in a wet spell.

Rain muffles the sound of every bird's wings, so the owl loses its edge over its prey — Wrong. Rain adds background noise, but it does not quieten anyone's wings; a wet owl's wings are actually louder. The owl's problem is its own plumage: the velvety surface that absorbs sound when dry has no water-repellent coating, so rain turns the instrument against it.

Rain seals the gaps between the feathers, locking in the silence but stalling the wing — Wrong. Water does not seal the fringes into a quieter wing; it mats them, changing how the feathers sit and move. Rather than locking in silence, rain pushes the feathers out of the state in which they work.