Dear Tweeters,

I picked an awesome day to call in sick and stay home! First, a Merlin blasted by my feeders, then flew to the top of a conifer a few hundred meters off.

Next, a Hairy Woodpecker came to my suet feeder--that's usually a once-in-a-year occurrence, and became yard-year bird number 100!

Then, at 4:09 pm, I saw an odd-looking bird in my birch tree, about seven meters up. Shrike? Robin? Nope, it was two birds, a brown-phase Northern Pygmy Owl clutching a male House Sparrow with no tail! I observed the gory details for exactly forty minutes.

The paragraphs below contain graphic descriptions of passericidal violence, and are not suitable reading matter for children, the faint of heart, and people with better things to do.

When I first saw it from my kitchen window, the owl was already done with the crown portion of the sparrow's head; the sparrow was dead, or at least motionless. I sneaked out there with binoculars to observe more closely. The owl continued devouring the brains for about five minutes.

The meat around the bill took another five. I thought it was a waste of time and effort, but the owl kept picking tit-bits off the base of the sparrow's bill. Finally it sundered the bill, from which dangled much connective tissue. The owl spent quite a while getting every last morsel off the bill, holding it in his right foot, while grasping carcass with left. Eventually the owl was able to shake off the bill itself, which I think fell to the ground, with next to nothing left attached to it.

After making quick work of neck and upper breast, the owl began plucking one wing at a time, starting with outer primaries. Once the wings were gone, the owl ate most of the rest of the body.

The only time the bird paused for more than a few seconds during all this was when I first came up to it and greeted it with a few of my own pygmy-owl toots. The owl spent a good three minutes peering around, trying to find the other owl, before returning to the meal. The stare he levelled at me put in my place, I must say. No toots issued from the real owl.

When a few Starlings flew around, the owl kept an eye on them, but for the most part, kept to a routine: process and feed for a few seconds, then peer about for a few seconds, then return to processing and feeding. The way the bird looked around provoked some anthropomorphic thoughts from me--that peering about reminded me of a human culprit looking about him, thigh-deep in some foul misdeed!

At about 4:49 (about ten minutes after I had gone back inside to get warm), the owl flew off to the north. Interstingly, this was within a very short time after the driveway light had come on automatically; that light is a good 60 meters away, and on the other side of the house, but maybe it spooked the owl. As soon as the owl left the perch, carrying about a fourth or less of the sparrow's original bulk, it dropped a few feet. The payload consisted of the tailless rump, along with legs, thighs, and a small portion of lower back and lower belly. I think maybe the owl headed for some small conifers that stand about thirty-five meters from the birch. Beyond them stretches a long, wide hayfield, not the typical resort of Northern Pygmy Owls.

All during this event, Oregon Juncoes were giving their "tsip!" notes in small groups, always at least twenty meters away. The House Sparrows in the spruce and holly, ten meters away, were making some unusual call notes; although I don't often stop to listen to them intently at going-to-roost time, the calls sounded odd to me, and so I suspect they were alarmed.

Well, I hope I can do as good a job on my turkey on Thursday as the owl did with his bird today.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

P.S. Now that I have seen Northern Pygmy-Owl, Calliope Hummingbird, Cassin's Vireo, and Say's Phoebe in my yard this year, maybe a Chestnut-backed Chickadee might show up!



Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?