Subject: [Tweeters] Notes from Roy: Ravens harassing Short-eared Owl
Date: Dec 5 09:43:02 2010
From: Denis DeSilvis - avnacrs4birds at q.com
Tweeters,
I was just scanning the treetops for hawks, when I spotted six Common Ravens
in the distance harassing some bird that I couldn't quite figure out -
flight pattern was flapping, unlike a Red-tailed Hawk or falcon. The bird
was smaller, less bulky than the ravens, but larger than a falcon. And the
head seemed "blunt" - an owl? I finally got the group in my scope and found
that the recipient of the harassment was a Short-eared Owl. (I got even
better looks at the owl when the group came over the edge of the wetlands
below the house.)
Three things were interesting to me:
1. The owl often went after one of the ravens during the harassment,
which I've not seen with harriers or red-tails when they've been harassed by
ravens.
2. The time of the activity was just under 8 minutes, during which the
birds were continually interacting, and flapping - quite energetic. This was
in direct contrast to what I've seen with ravens going after anything else -
the hawks and eagles generally do a lot of flap-gliding.
3. The height of the interaction was at least four times the height of
the tallest cottonwood on the other side of our property, which puts the
activity at over 250ft at that point, and which was even lower than when I
first saw the group. (The height did give me one of the first clues as to
what the owl might be, along with body size and wing shape.)
In addition to this being the first time I've seen ravens after any owl
other than a Great Horned, it was the first Short-eared Owl of the year that
I've seen at our home.
May all your birds be identified,
Denis DeSilvis
Roy, WA
Mailto: avnacrs4birds at q.com