Owl viewing ethics (2 Viewers)

[Surreybirder]

Little Owls seem to be less common and widespread than they used to be. Most if not all of our local ones are gone: from being a common species to zero in about ten years.



John

I read somewhere that little owls have become more nocturnal due to the increasing number of predators (mainly buzzards and ravens, I assume). I would certainly agree that they have become much harder to find. I knew of two reliable sites close to my home ten years ago but now I only occasionally hear one.

 

[Surreybirder]

I assume the SEO site was in West London

That's the one.

 

[Mike Crawley]

There's an RSPB reserve I know which has Little Owls and is totally paranoid about anyone mentioning their existence on social media. In fact, the unofficial Facebook discussion group is presently "paused" as the admin is fed up with actually adminning the group to remove posts about them.

It's a most bizarre thing, especially for what is, after all, a non-endangered, non-native species.

No doubt the local RSPB site manager feels responsible for ensuring that “his/her birds” aren’t subjected to additional stress and (perhaps more importantly) aren’t subjected to the attention of oologists

 

[Farnboro John]

No doubt the local RSPB site manager feels responsible for ensuring that “his/her birds” aren’t subjected to additional stress and (perhaps more importantly) aren’t subjected to the attention of oologists eggers/egg collectors/criminals

Fixed that for you. Don't give the scum the dignity of a faux scientific title.

John

 

[opisska]

Little Owls are also subjects to secrets here, which is a bit funny, because you can find official publications about them, they are subject to a lot of research and conservation effort - there are basically in a few specific areas and only survive because of a few enthusiasts who go around and educate farmers about technical traps. But I am not worried for the species, in Spain they are absolutely everywhere, you often see them just driving the main roads in the day.

 

[Andy Adcock]

I know of 3 places in the UK where barns and tawny come in to day old chicks including one person that has them coming in almost to hand, no hide or camouflage at all . The barns are the tamer of the two , the tawny come in and fly straight off whereas the barns in two places will stay and feed in front of you. As regards LE , there is a village in Hungary ( forget the name ) where a 20+ roost is in a residential street tree with bright lighting around it and very relaxed about passer by

Despicable.

 

[kids]

Despicable.

because ?

 

[PaulCountyDurham]

What I do not really get is the secrecy around Barn Owls - they live in agricultural buildings, but somehow the sites are like super secret. They are not very common, I have been out in the night for a lot of hours and found just one by accident.

Is the Barn Owl population any lower than in Britain?

If not, then you certainly do not need to go out at night to see Barn Owls, particularly at certain times of the year (raising young, during winter when there is reduced rodent activity and the owls have to hunt during the day or the day after heavy rain/wind).

I think the trick is to find a reliable site and then be there at the right time (during the day). I've seen barn owls flying around in the middle of a sunny day.

Do they only live in agricultural buildings in the Czech republic? My understanding is that old farm houses and the like have been knocked down all over Europe and so the birds have learned to adapt.

'Sounds like your best bet is to find your own Barn Owl, which shouldn't be too tricky at the right time in the right habitat (rough grassland preferred in Britain).

 

[opisska]

I have never seen a Barn Owl by day in the Czech Republic - and I have been out a lot back in the day when I birded more locally. I think the population density is not big - and from what I know they really mostly live on the big farms. Not necessarily old farm houses, but working production farms.

I did see some hunting in the UK during the day and was quite confused about what it was, because I had no idea back then that this was normal.

 

[PaulCountyDurham]

I have never seen a Barn Owl by day in the Czech Republic - and I have been out a lot back in the day when I birded more locally. I think the population density is not big - and from what I know they really mostly live on the big farms. Not necessarily old farm houses, but working production farms.

I did see some hunting in the UK during the day and was quite confused about what it was, because I had no idea back then that this was normal.

Fair enough, mate.

I've just had a quick look 'round the internet and found this:

Environment Ministry launches rescue program for barn owls

Environment Ministry launches rescue program for barn owls

english.radio.cz

The Environment Ministry has launched a rescue program for the barn owl which is on the verge of extinction in the Czech Republic, the ctk news agency reported. There are only about one hundred and twenty pairs of this species left in parts of north-western Bohemia....

Presumably that answers your secrecy question.

 

[Strontium Dog]

FWIW, Barn Owl is the only owl species I've ever seen in the UK, and on multiple occasions. That arguably says more about my skill as a birder than it does about species rarity.

 

[Andy Adcock]

because ?

Luring with live chicks is how I read that?

 

[01101001]

European Breeding Bird Atlas

The European Breeding Bird Atlas is one of the most ambitious biodiversity mapping projects ever done. A total of 596 breeding bird species in Europe. A collaboration across political borders strengthening a network of 120,000 people and organisations who worked together in one of the biggest...

ebba2.info

 

[kids]

Luring with live chicks is how I read that?

day old chicks are the male chicks , gassed ( I think ) and frozen . Falconers , reptile keepers and those setting up raptor feeding sites rely on them as cheap protein. Every pet shop will have sacks of them , when I was a falconer , I think they were about £5 for 50

 

[Andy Adcock]

day old chicks are the male chicks , gassed ( I think ) and frozen . Falconers , reptile keepers and those setting up raptor feeding sites rely on them as cheap protein. Every pet shop will have sacks of them , when I was a falconer , I think they were about £5 for 50

OK, thanks.

 

[RichieTwitchy]

One of my local patches in Lunt is well-known for its owls - we get Barn Owls, Short-eared and Little, and I was once shown a photo of a Long-eared apparently taken in the area but other birders have contested this.

And I've heard stories about bird photographers nailing dead mice to (man-made) perches knowing that once the Owl flies in to take the 'prey' it then cannot take off with the (nailed-down) meal, and therefore this allows the said photographers to get 'more interesting' shots of it eating its 'prey'.

Is that cruel or not I'm not too sure as the Owl is getting a meal, but for me it's definitely 'cheating' nature for the sake of a good/great photo to upload to Flickr and vicarious WhatsApp bird groups.

You can guarantee that if I meet a new birder to the reserve then 9 out of 10 times they will ask about Owls.

Unfortunately we've also had stories about of illegal falconers flying their BOPs over the reserve killing or disturbing Owls (as well as other birds).

Here's a photo I took of one of those individuals whose trust I was trying to gain as I chatted away to him wanting to get a photo of him and his bird (Harris Hawk), but all he did was to move himself out of the picture every time I tried only leaving the bird in view.

 

[Xenospiza]

I have never seen a Barn Owl by day in the Czech Republic - and I have been out a lot back in the day when I birded more locally. I think the population density is not big - and from what I know they really mostly live on the big farms. Not necessarily old farm houses, but working production farms.

I did see some hunting in the UK during the day and was quite confused about what it was, because I had no idea back then that this was normal.

This day-hunting seems to be a typical UK thing. I have never seen a Barn Owl by day anywhere else!