This morning I received a report of a "large raptor" that was a road kill
near a location where I have a nesting pair of Barred Owls. Upon
investigation, I found a dead unbanded Barred Owl. This is most likely the
mate of the female that is nesting nearby.



The female is on telemetry, and I know where the nest is. The eggs are due
to hatch any day now. Without a mate to feed her, the female will be forced
to abandon the nesting. This particular female is one of my favorites, in
that she is very responsive and is a bird that I often show to owlers that I
take out.



My options as I see them, are to;



1. Do nothing, and let nature take its course. (The predecessor to this
female, her two fledged owlets, as well as her mate, were taken out by
vehicular traffic over a month's time several years ago.)



2. Play surrogate "Dad", and provide food to her and her chicks. (She will
most likely respond once she gets hungry, or if her chicks have already
hatched.)



If I didn't know where the nest was, and I didn't know the bird, it would be
easy to pick option 1.



Not a good way to start a beautiful day out during spring break...



J. Acker

Bainbridge Island, Washington

owler at sounddsl.com