Todd,
You are not the first to be attacked by a Barred Owl. I have also been
attacked on two different occassions by the same male Barred Owl. I was
owling in the areaboth times during nesting season, and even though I
never found a nest, I must have upset this bird badly. I hope you did
not get seriously injured. I had a set of talon marks circling my left
eye. I was extremely lucky (for being dumb). I wear a helmet when I
enter this particular owls woodlot. Out of all the Barred Owls on the
Island (26+), this is the only individual that has ever attacked me at
night. It is not a normal occurrance.

Most Barred Owl attacks on humans come in the fall. Presently, the hatch
year birds that are still alive are out looking for territory and
wandering around quite a bit. I think that this may cause Barred Owls
with established territories to defend them against the invading
youngsters. I know that when I owl lately, I mostly get adults to fly in
silently, rather than being vocal. My guess is that your trespass was
perceived as a territorial violation, and was addressed as such.

The other time that Barred Owls will attack humans is in defense of a
nest or young. During the nesting season, they can be quite aggressive.
When climbing nests for the purposes of banding the young, about half of
the females will make a pass or two at me.

I have two radio-tagged hatch year birds, one of which disappeared off
the island within 4 days of installation back in August. The other, a
female, has come and gone. Last week she was over in Ilahee (near
Bremerton). She had spent some time on the Island. I am almost positive
that she had also been to west Seattle. They seem to have no fear of
crossing water.

Jamie Acker
Bainbridge Island,WA
Biowler1 at juno.com


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