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Long eared Owl(Asio otus) Display outside of breeding season. (1 Viewer)

StevieEvans

Well-known member
2nd October '03
Co. Durham, N.E. England, UK.

A calm, fine evening at a regular Leo. breeding site.

At dusk a single Long eared Owl , silently left its thorn thicket to begin to hunt, quickly being lost to view. After another brief glimpse of it flying, a Tawny Owl Strix aluco, began to call from an adjoining area of scrub & young trees. (approx 75m away)
After the Tawny had called intermitantly for 2-3 mins, the wingclapping display of the Leo could be heard, initially 2 claps.
The Tawny fell silent, as its neighbour continued to display over & around this years breeding thicket, about 4m above the tops of the trees & scrub. The number of 'claps' never exceded 3 in succession, with several singles: the total counted being 16, over 3-4 mins.
The flying ceased & all was quiet. The Leo didnt call once.

After a few more mins of no activity, the Leo then came in high from a southerly direction, its manner of flight was totaly new to me.
The bird was flying about 10-12m above the ground, with a stiff winged, very rapid 'whirring' motion, (which reminded me of the way shearwaters fly), the tips of the wings only moving up & down very slightly (in complete contrast to the full slow beats only just observed).
The owl covered ground quickly, gaining height, but still propelling itself with this 'abnormal flight action' & was approx 150m away when the Tawny let out a loud call, at this, the Leo imediately banked through 180 degrees returning to its normal flight back toward the nesting area.
On approach it gave 2 more single wing claps, before disappearing. All was quiet for a full 6 mins, when i saw the bird flying along the trackway towards me, it was only half light & the bird melted away into the background passing within 4-5m of me.
I waited 10 mins longer, but there was no further activity or calling, before i left.

(I have presumed that the flying bird was the Same male on all interactions. In the past i have seen 2 males wingclap over the female while she called from the nest, along with female winclapping. (DifferentLocation))


*I was intruiged to see display at this time of year, & think it was set off by the neighbouring Tawny, a rival species.

*The flight action of the bird was new to me, ive watched up to 10 or more pairs at breeding sites for over 10 years now.

Any comments would be welcome
(The only Ref. book ive got is Owls of Europe - H.Mikkola)

Steve.
 
Having had a day to ponder on the unseasonal Displaying, i thought of some (other) possibilities for it being carried out, other than the potential of threat from Tawny.

1. A way of re-establishing the pair bond between the resident birds, after this years young have departed the area ?

2. A way of re-affirming its territory, given the recent arrival of wintering Short-eared Owls ?

3. Possibility that immigration of other Leo's had recently occured ? into the area ? (winter roosts every year close by) & that it was necessary to establish to these new arrivals, that the area was 'theirs' ?

4. That this was a new male taking over the site for whatever reason, hence the display at this time of year ?

5. That its nothing out of the ordinary, & that Leo's display at Any time of year ?

6. Possibly, that the bird was harrassed / adjitated as works have recently begun bull-dozing one of its chief feeding areas, close by ?

7.5 its flapping about,' cos its sick of me spying on it ?

7.75 hope someone has found this interesting ?

Steve ;)
 
Nice.
Cheers Spar, i hadnt thought of that at all. And will have to read up.
No'8- Mild spring like weather too.

Me signing off now.
Regards S.

(00:43- OK me read 2moro.
S)
 
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Hi Steviewol

About this time of year LEO's re-establish pair bonds and territories, this usually lasts for about 2 weeks when the pair may separate again until the turn of the year. They will then start all over again in preparation for the new breeding season, eggs may be laid as early as the beginning of February (earlier some years).

nirofo.
 
Hello Nirofo

Many thanks for that.
(Watched the bird again last night, but no display seen poss due to very cold & blustery conditions- although prob not as cold & blustery as where you are.)

I've been trying (un-successfully) to get a copy of the book "LEO" published by Hawk & Owl Trust, (limited to 1000 copies i believe).

*What else & where else would you suggest i read, regarding this bird ?


Another question that you may be able to answer for me is :-

*Why, if they are a territorial species, do they allow other Leo's to winter roost in 'their patch' ?
Surely the increased number of prey items taken in winter by these immigrants, will lead to a lower amount of potential food for the resident pair in the spring ?
(I know these birds can get about a bit, but i would have thought the male at least would stay at his breeding site, given the ammount of effort he puts into declaring 'its his' in late winter/spring ?)

Thanks in anticipation.
Stevie.
 
Hi Steviewol

LEO nesting territories are usually defended vigorously when occupied, certain territories may be occupied throughout the year. However outwith the breeding season communal roosts can be formed, usually away from established territories, these roosts will probably include visitors from Scandinavian countries or elsewhere in Britain (perhaps young of the year). When the birds leave the roost to hunt they will follow their own preffered routes and may cover some considerable distance before returning later in the day.
 
Hi Spar

LEO's are not the only birds that re-establish their pair bonds and territories at this time of the year, Tawny Owls, Sparrowhawks, Buzzards and Ravens to mention just a few also do this.

nirofo.
 
Sparrowhawk & Leo.

Hi,
This reply is in 2 halfs, the 2nd part is about Leo.

Seen 3 Sparrowhawks, having a pro-longed dogfight this afternoon in gusty conditions.
Appeared to be an adult pair & a juvenile female.
Birds were at woodland edge habitat, over scrub & arable land.

The first view was of 'a' female in high level flight, then 'swoop' down steeply & pull back up (rollercoaster like-as in spring display), imediately prior to all the chasing about.
The male never got as close in as its mate & occasionaly veared off as if unsure of itself. Most of the attack was left to the ad. fem who harried the young fem. almost constantly.
At least twice the juv. tried to seek refuge in Oak&Ash trees, but the adults flushed it back into the open, with quite a bit calling at that time. Apart from that the chasing was without any other calling.
The birds flew at all different heights & speeds during the dispute, which attracted in a curious Kestrel (no involvement) & Magpies & Jackdaws.

What do you think? The res. pair chasing off an intruder?, or one of their young.? maybe they were taking advantage of a blustery day to display, and the 3rd bird got in the way ?
(Juv...? or should it be 1st winter/immature..?)

*Back to the owls...

I have found that most areas which have a winter population, then go on to have a breeding pair. Or, you could turn that statement around..?( i am using this to try to locate additional breed. records.)
The roosts that i have seen in breeding territories, comprise more individuals than solely the resident pair + offspring, ie- some are immigrant birds.
The roosts are, depending on tree species often adjacent to the nest tree. In one NorwaySpruce/ScotsPine shelterbelt ive seen birds winter roost in The Nesting tree.
At another location this year we had the female incubating whilst 40m away there was a double figure roost !
These roosting birds were "flushed" on several ocassions by non-carefull / inept birders, & they flew past & settled near to the brooding bird.
There was often a single rooster nearer the nest, i took this to be the male..?
This pair suceded in fledging young this year, despite their wood having 10+ other Leo's roosting in it. (roost broken up completely by end of April)

Nirofo, i know what you mean about preffered routes, ive seen hunting birds at all different times of night, crossing the same strech of road, or go past the same gateway etc, when theres 100's of square metres of similar habitat to choose from! They must get to know which routes hold most prey items etc.

How far would they range on an evening hunting trip ?
Steve (big owl fan)
 
Hi Steviewol

I think your account of the breeding LEO's near to a sizeable roost probably gives the game away in this instance, it's unlikely that any self respecting male on a nesting territory would tolerate the intrusion of other mature males, I would say that it's likely that the roost was made up of immature males and or females.
Ive watched various species of Owl hunting over the years, most seem to follow a regular route, perhaps due to territorial behaviour or more likely because they know where the best hunting is.

nirofo.
 
Hi Spar

As you know about this time of year young male birds of prey coming in to maturity start looking round for a territory of their own, up to now they will have been tolerated by adults because they posed no threat. Now however, they will be testing the resident males metal with displays over his territory, if the resident bird is up to it he will soon show the upstart off and will go into a display ritual with his female. If the upstart gets the better of him then the upstart will take over the territory and will form a pair bond with the female, this will last until he in turn is bested by an upstart. This is probably best observed in Buzzards where it's possible to have several birds in the air at once all displaying over a territory.

nirofo.
 
Hi Spar

Just another thought re daylight hours, this time of year is possibly the last chance the pairs will have to display over their territory. With Winter just round the corner a lot of birds will be leaving their Summer territories where prey items are not so plentiful now to go down to the softer areas where pickings are easier. This will probably mean that the pairs will be split up for several months, hence the pair bonding before this happens. When Spring eventually arrives these birds will make their way back to the territories they set up previously, now the pair bond will be re-established by various forms of display, such as vertical dives, talon grappling, food passes etc. I dont think it's so much the length of the day but the time of the year that has the real influence on this behaviour.

nirofo.
 
Thank you both, for your interest & imput into this topic, any ideas on how far a hunting bird could travel per night ?
It would be great if we could add to this thread from time to time, we may well get some other ideas &/or opinions, from folks who have perhaps missed this up to now.

Steve
 
Hi Steviewol

Tawny Owls and LEO's are difficult to observe at night for obvious reasons, however many years ago (we'll not go into that) I found a Tawny Owl nest with young in an old Yew tree, inside the nest hole were the remains of a Trout and a Dace, several pellets collected nearby also contained the remains of fish. The nearest water containing fish was approx 2 miles away!! I've also observed Barn Owl hunting in the twilight at least 2 miles from it's nest containing 6 young in an old barn. This bird was hunting the yard outside an old grain store. Short-eared Owls while not a truly nocturnal bird will hunt through the night when feeding a large brood of young, I've observed Short-eared's many times hunting at least 2 miles from the nest. I think that 2-3 miles for an Owl is not a large distance and if they know of a prolific hunting area at these distances they will easily travel to it within 10-15 minutes. Obsevations at many Owl nests from hides show that at peak hunting periods (just after dusk until midnight) one prey item is brought in on average every 20-30 minutes, (falls in with the distance 10-15 minutes each way) conditions being favourable. This usually slows to a stop as the night progresses then picks up again just before dawn and may continue until just after daybreak. Occasionally prey items may be brought in in rapid succession, probably the results of stashing.

nirofo.
 
Hi Nirofo
Haven't had any PC access for several weeks now, & consequently am just catching up with stuff, alongwith getting used to the sites 'new' format.
Have just found your very interesting observations, in the reply dated 8/10 ! (Especially like the Long Range Tawny Fish Owl) Will post tomorrow with more questions & sightings.
Stevie
 
I just came across this thread too. I am interested in this subject as we have an LEO roost locally. There used to be more but that is another story. Even the established one is under threat due to the new National Nature Reserve that is being constructed. I was aghast the other day to see that the bushes where they roost has been ripped out as an area for landfill. I'll get back to you with an update as I hope to try to locate them again this weekend.
 
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