Neighbor to Neighbor Birding on Broadmeade Birding Articles Neighborhood Owls
| Neighborhood Owls |
 |
| Written by Mikael Behrens | |||
| Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:38 | |||
|
Owls are shaped by their need to hunt at night. Some of their human-like qualities come from this need. Their heads are large to support large eyes and their eyes are large to gather more light for seeing prey in the dark. In fact, their eyes are not just large, but are shaped like cylinders to more efficiently handle light. A side effect of this shape is that owls cannot move their eyes within their heads -- they can only move their heads. So their ability to turn and angle their heads is much greater than most other birds and mammals. Owls hunt by sound as much as by sight, so they have extremely efficient hearing as well as vision. The distinctive face of an owl has the purpose of improving its hearing. The facial disk is a structure made of tiny specialized feathers and is much flatter and wider than the bird's underlying skull. It is shaped to channel sound waves into the owl's ears. And it works so well that some owls can locate and catch prey by sound alone in pitch-black darkness. Owls are extremely precise fliers, but they are not the most efficient fliers.They have made a sacrifice to be silent fliers. Their flight feathers have softened edges to muffle wind noise. This creates more drag, but it enables them to swoop down on prey without making a sound. Eastern Screech-OwlThe more common of our two resident owls is the Eastern Screech-Owl. This is a backyard bird that can be seen in the early evenings and heard almost anytime throughout the night. It's a small owl -- a little bigger than a Blue Jay -- with a short tail, yellow eyes, and two feather tufts resembling horns or ears on its head. It is mostly grey and extremely well camouflaged to blend in with tree bark. The screech owl likes most types of wooded areas with some clearings and open understory, where it can perch and watch and wait for its prey. It eats all kinds of small animals including insects, rodents, and even small birds. In fact, if small birds here a screech owl during the daytime they will often gather together to scold and harass it. Birders sometimes take advantage of this mobbing behavior by imitating or playing tapes of Eastern Screech-Owls in order to see what other birds come to investigate. I've done it myself and sometimes it works remarkably well. I occasionally see and hear Eastern Screech-Owlsin my yard and people often tell me about seeing them in their yards too. The literature says that Eastern Screech-Owls sometimes screech, but I've never heard it. Much more common are their long low trills and shorter whinny noises. The trill is used to keep in contact with a mate or chicks. The whinny is to declare a territory. Both sounds are quite creepy to hear late at night. Once they find a mate most Eastern Screech-Owls stick with that mate for life. They nest in tree cavities and will readily use nest boxes. In our neighborhood an owl box will be inhabited pretty quickly and they're a blast to have in your yard. Putting up an owl box is the easiest way to see screech-owls because they sit up in the entrance hole in the early evening before leaving to hunt in the night. Great Horned OwlThe only other owl I've seen and heard in the neighborhood is the much larger Great Horned Owl. I've heard one just a couple times from my house on Broadmeade. I have seen one in the flood plain property and on the smaller creek behind Meadowheath. Several neighbors have told me about seeing and hearing them regularly on Stillforest, Meadowheath, Briar Hollow, and other nearby streets. This owl is large -- over 20 inches long and with a wingspan of nearly 3 feet. (And it often seems larger when encountered unexpectedly at night!) It has large yellow eyes and ear tufts or "horns" made of feathers. Like the Screech-owl, Great Horned Owls are extremely versatile and successful. They range over the entire continent, north up to the arctic tree line. They will nest almost anywhere -- tree cavities, old hawk or heron nests, cliffs, abandoned buildings, even on the ground! Great Horned Owls are nonmigratory and extremely territorial. Usually mated pairs live on their territory all year and for the long-term. Their deep hooting is done all year as well, to maintain territory. But it increases in egg laying season which is late February to late April. Hooting picks up again in the fall when young birds leave home. Great Horned Owls rarely tolerate other owls within their territory but don't seem to mind sharing it with hawks. Great Horned Owls eat almost anything they can catch including insects, reptiles, mammals, birds, and even other owls. They prefer small to medium-sized mammals like mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, and raccoons. Even house cats can be prey. (This is a great reason to keep your cat safe and inside.) Other Possible OwlsThere are a few other possible owls in the neighborhood. One is the red form of the Eastern Screech-Owl. This is the same species but is reddish brown instead of gray. Two additional species are Barred Owl and Barn Owl. I'd love to hear from anyone that has seen or heard any of these in our area. It's not to hard to learn how to recognize our owls by sound. The links below have sounds that you can play on your computer. Give them a listen and then see if you can identify our neighborhood owls the next time you hear one. Also, consider putting up a screech-owl nest box. It's easy, it helps the owls, and it's lots of fun being able to see them so easily. I hope this information helps you learn and enjoy our neighborhood owls. And as always, if you have questions or comments or if you are interested in the neighborhood bird walk, email me! Mikael Behrens Related linksEastern Screech-Owl Screech-Owl Nest Boxes Great Horned Owl Barred Owl Barn Owl
|
There is something special about owls. When I'm out birding in the neighborhood, more people tell me about their experiences with owls than with any other kind of bird. Maybe it's because of their human-like qualities. They have large round heads and large forward-set eyes. Their feathers form a facial disk much flatter and face-like than the underlying skull. And the sounds they make are often within our vocal range. Or maybe it's because of how seldom we see them. Thanks to their nocturnal habits and their extreme skill at remaining hidden, even common owls might remain undetected by people for months or even years. So that one night when an owl finally flies across your path, or you see one perched in a tree looking at you with a strangely human-but-inhuman face, it's exciting and memorable. We are lucky enough to have at least two species of owl that live in our neighborhood all year long.