A photograph of a owl perched on a tree with his eyes closed left internet users struggling to spot him. Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda, who often shares interesting wildlife content on Twitter, posted a photo of a “meditating owl”. “Meditating Owl with eyes closed has perfect camouflage that can never be seen…” Nanda captioned the tweet.
Meditating owl, eyes closed, has a perfect camouflage that we never see…
(via Massimo) pic.twitter.com/7Mv7bgs45S—Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) March 30, 2022
The photo was originally shared by Twitter user Massimo.
Many users have been slow to spot the owl in the middle of the photograph because of the color of the bird, which is reminiscent of the bark of the tree. “This one is good for the ‘spot the bird in the picture’ contest. Took a while to realize it was right in the middle!!” commented one user. “Like it’s wood,” another user wrote.
This one is good for the “spot the bird in the picture” contest. Took a while to realize it was right in the middle!!
— Vani PS (@VaaniPs) March 30, 2022
OMG!! Even I have to meditate for a few seconds to make it visible!!
— Naveen Datt (@NaveenDatt1) March 30, 2022
There can never be a perfect camouflage like this.👌👌👌👏👏
— Pallavi(Rubis)Baruah🇮🇳 (@25rubybaruah) March 30, 2022
— Sharmistha Mazumder (@mazumder_sharmi) March 30, 2022
An owl or a cat? Well, meditation is good for every living being!
— Sharmistha Chakraborty (@Sharmi_Chak) March 30, 2022
As if it were wooden 🦉 https://t.co/2tLEmHSFsz
— Poonam Saroha (@SarohaPoonam856) March 30, 2022
Fully camouflaged. If not mentioned it would never be noticed 😇😆😂 https://t.co/JrDmT0rGC3
– Shashiprakash (vu3ksp) (@vu3ksp) March 30, 2022
According to National geographic, camouflage or cryptic coloration is a defensive mechanism used by species to hide either to avoid predators or for predators to trap their prey. One of the most common camouflage tactics, background matching helps species disguise themselves by resembling their surroundings through coloration, shape, or movement.
Before that, Nanda confused many users with a photograph of a family of elephants. Netizens scratched their heads as they counted the number of elephants in the photo and got confused.