Question about owls (1 Viewer)

J

jnicholes

Well-known member

• Mar 23, 2020

• #1

So, I had a great horned owl in my neighborhood this morning. I was able to get a video of it. After I got the video, the owl swooped out of the tree, and went after a couple of small birds. It missed, and the small birds got away.

I thought owls only went after mice, not other birds!

Do owls even eat other birds?

I am confused.

 

Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Mar 23, 2020

• #2

jnicholes said:

So, I had a great horned owl in my neighborhood this morning. I was able to get a video of it. After I got the video, the owl swooped out of the tree, and went after a couple of small birds. It missed, and the small birds got away.

I thought owls only went after mice, not other birds!

Do owls even eat other birds?

I am confused.

Click to expand...

Yes!

You'll find that the Owls that take birds most often, are those that hunt during daylight rather than the truly nocturnal species.

 

J

jnicholes

Well-known member

• Mar 23, 2020

• #3

Wow, that's cool! You learn something new everyday!

 

Xenospiza

Distracted

• Mar 23, 2020

• #4

Great Horned Owls will take anything they can catch:
From https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-horned-owl:
Takes many rats, mice, and rabbits, also ground squirrels, opossums, skunks [...]. Eats some birds [...] up to size of geese, ducks, hawks, and smaller owls. Also eats snakes, lizards, frogs, insects, scorpions, rarely fish.

 

PYRTLE

Old Berkshire Boy

• Mar 23, 2020

• #5

Whilst the diminutive Northern Pygmy Owl will take and kill birds larger than itself .

 

Jeff Hopkins

Just another...observer

• Mar 23, 2020

• #6

I was always told that when you are trying to survey owls with tape, start with the small ones and then try different species according to increasing size. The smaller species will be scared off when the larger species are heard. So that also suggests the bigger species will prey on the smaller ones.

 

Andy Adcock

Worst person on Birdforum

• Mar 23, 2020

• #7

Jeff hopkins said:

I was always told that when you are trying to survey owls with tape, start with the small ones and then try different species according to increasing size. The smaller species will be scared off when the larger species are heard. So that also suggests the bigger species will prey on the smaller ones.

Click to expand...

Eagle Owls definitly kill other Owls and Buzzards, not always for food but for territory.

 

Julie50

Mostly in the Midlands :)

Supporter

• Mar 23, 2020

• #8

I know it is not an owl, but we witnessed this the weekend before last!

 

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Hamhed

Well-known member

• Mar 23, 2020

• #9

We often find Blue Jay and Northern Cardinal feathers when cleaning out our Eastern Screech Owl nest boxes.

Steve

 

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Mar 23, 2020

• #10

They will take birds, but only very few. For Barn Owl, well under 1% of the diet in this pie chart:

https://twitter.com/teeswildlife/status/1242106228500824064?s=20

 

K

King Edward

Well-known member

• Mar 24, 2020

• #11

I think Tawny Owls take a fair number of birds. They certainly attract considerable mobbing attention from small songbirds during the day, whereas Barn Owls seem to be pretty much ignored when hunting during the day. I don't think I've noticed either mobbing or alarm calls in response to them.

 

opisska

rabid twitcher

• Mar 24, 2020

• #12

Jeff hopkins said:

I was always told that when you are trying to survey owls with tape, start with the small ones and then try different species according to increasing size. The smaller species will be scared off when the larger species are heard. So that also suggests the bigger species will prey on the smaller ones.

Click to expand...

In Europe caution is commonly advised when playing owl tapes because of owl on owl hunting. If Tawny Owls are present in the area, one should never play a Pygmy Owl after dark, because it can get it eaten by the Tawny.