owl mail system question

[Kelly Hickory 2]

IRL i have just started watching the harry potter movies and one of the things that I am most intrigued by is the owl mail system. However, there is one particular detail regarding the owl mail delivery system that has me curious. So, I assume that for letters that are being delivered to someone farther away from hogwarts then one owl can fly, there is some kind of system where one owl stops somewhere and gives it to another owl and then that owl continues on with the letter either to the destination or to the next stopping spot and then the process continues till the letter gets to the right place. Now, i can see how that may work within England itself, but now I'm thinking, How would the owl mail system work if the message needed to be delivered to another country that required crossing a large body of ocean? For example, say the letter was supposed to go to someone in Texas. I think that would require more body of water than a bunch of snowy owls could fly across. Not only that but there's considerations of climate too. So, in those cases would some kind of water animal take over the ocean section of the letters delivery trip, then be given to another owl once it reaches the shore?

[Prof. Sky Alton 261]

Fascinating question and not one I think I've ever considered before. :)

 

  In the books, when we see Harry send Hedwig on journeys to other countries, it takes her quite a while to return with a response. He also receives several letters from someone living far away and these are delivered by tropical birds that are apparently native to wherever that person is staying. That would seem to suggest that the same bird does the whole journey but takes plenty of time to rest on the way. I do like your idea of an owl relay though - who knows, perhaps the original owl just waits at the first waypoint for the response to come back down the chain?

 

  There's also a scene in book 3 where we get to see inside the Hogsmeade Post Office where you can hire an owl to send a message - they have different sizes and breeds of owl for different delivery lengths (including really tiny ones for local deliveries which is adorable).