Tweeters,
I watched part of the game last night, but missed Dave Niehaus's comment, so this morning I was innundated with questions about his statement. As frequently happens, the slightest seed of truth can be blown way out of proportion.
Woodland Park Zoo has NOT supplied any barn owls to Safeco Field. Last winter the Mariners asked the Zoo about the feasibility of establishing peregrine falcons by providing suitable roost and nesting sites at the field to deter pigeons. Two zoo staff members, Ernie Rose and Becky Barker visited the construction site and made suggestions about nesting/roosting structures that might be incorporated into the building design or that might be added to the nearby railyards. After that we had no subsequent contact with the Mariners, and are unaware on any follow-up action they may have taken. I guess this is the stuff that urban legends are made of.


Greg

Greg Toffic
Curator of Birds
Woodland Park Zoo
5500 Phinney Avenue N.
Seattle, WA 98103
(206)684-4836 PH
(206)233-7278 FAX
greg.toffic at zoo.org

"Metaphors be with you"

>>> "Dan Logen" <pdl at whidbey.net> 08/25 11:01 PM >>>

During tonight's telecast of the Mariner's game, Dave Neihaus explained why
there are no birds in Safeco Field. He said he had been told that Woodland
Park Zoo had supplied Barn Owls to Safeco Field and that they are nesting
up high somewhere right now, and the Barn Owl's motto is "If it flies, its
dead."

I checked with the BNA account (#1, 1992---wow, I didn't realize this
project is already 7 years old) and confirmed that the Barn Owl's diet
rarely includes birds, and then only small birds which roost in the open,
such as starlings, blackbirds, marsh wrens.

Could this be true that the Zoo actually supplied Barn Owls to keep the
rock doves and gulls out of Safeco Field?

Dan Logen
Stanwood