On Thu, 16 Jan 1997, Ed Schulz wrote:

> Many thanks to Dennis and Molly for taking the time to examine the bones
> found in the Snowy Owl pellet and also for posting the findings to
> Tweeters. I have recently seen the remains (feet) of two Am. Coots at the
> base of two perches used by various raptors on Jetty Island. One thing
> that is puzzling is that I don't recall seeing many Coots on the island.
>
> Ed Schulz
> Everett, WA
> eschulz at eldec.com
>

...although Coots are usually available just across the 1/2 mile channel
on the lawn of the boat launch "park," among the flock of hand-fed mutant
mallards and gulls...

I 'd guess that either a Snowy or Red-tail, or both, make the trip across
to pick off coots, or perhaps the coots cross the channel to spend the
night at Jetty Island.

Of course, some raptors just have peculiar tastes. A pair of Peregrines
nesting in Springfield, Mass, was hooked up to a video monitor and put on
local cable. One of the more surprising results was the discovery that
the male brought Yellow-billed Cuckoos, an uncommon and retiring bird that
you would be hard put to see two of in an entire day of birding in that
region, all the time. It was perhaps the most common prey item, and
let me assure you there were plenty of starlings closer to downtown
Springfield than the cuckoos would have been. Just what made the cuckoos
especially vulnerable or attractive to the Peregrines, no one ever figured
out.

Chris Hill
Everett, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu






> ----------------------------------------------------
> >Those of you who attended the last WOS meeting and saw Ed Schulz's photos
> >of Snowy Owls and of the dissected SNOW pellet will be interested to know
> >that I finally got around to comparing it with skeletons in the Slater
> >Museum collection, with Molly Hukari's help.
>
> >The bones were definitely those of an American Coot.
>
> >Molly said it must have been an old coot to be caught by the owl.....I told
> >her I didn't appreciate her allusion.
>
> >Hope all you tweeters had a good holiday season. Sorry to be missing the
> >fun, but Life keeps getting in the way. I'm looking forward to tuning in in
> >May when I finish my spring class.
>
> >Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
> >Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
> >University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
> >Tacoma, WA 98416
> >http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html
>
>
>
>