Subject: [Tweeters] Fwd: Part one of two--Some observations and speculation
Date: Mar 20 14:11:36 2010
From: notcalm at comcast.net - notcalm at comcast.net



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From: notcalm at comcast.net
To: "Tweeters" <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 2:05:46 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Part one of two--Some observations and speculation regarding the Migrating Burrowing Owl at Renton- see part 2 in next e-mail












Hello Tweeters Community members. This is Part one of a two part e-mail, split because of size limitations of this list serve.

I am not an Owl expert. I have a PhD in Clinical psychology. I was present from -30 minutes before to one hour after sunset observing the behavior of the Burrowing Owl at Renton last evening. The Owl seemed responsive to sounds and movements in the environment. It became increasing active and fully alert after sunset, eyes open, preening, rapid attention shifts to different stimuli around it, including movement on ground below it. I shifted, but did not leave the limb while I was present. The behaviors I observed, including arousal post sunset, are consistent with nocturnal owls.

Based upon limited observation, season, and the research findings given below, I speculate the following:

1. the bird is not lost, starving or acting abnormally.

2. It will probably be here for a short time and continue migration.

3. the greatest risk may be that the bird is flushed or hunting and is injured by a car or Crow.

4. There is a river near by and many security and street lights present near the roost, which are likely to attract moths and other insects, providing readily available food sources. The bird may hunt nearby later in the evening. Rodents are certainly present within short distances, including lots, river and parks.

5. When I was present after dark, several people walked by with dogs and certainly cats are around, so roosting in the tree is probably not an accident or a sign of illness.

6. the owl is acting differently then the classic, on the ground in front of burrow behavior shown in field guides, because it behaves differently in migration (Nocturnal feeding-see Cornell quotes below)

7. The unusual thing about this situation is that the owl is so visible and has chosen a high traffic area in a urban setting in migration. If the city of Renton was not present the Owl being present at this exact location in migration would be easier to understand and accept.

8. The Owl defecated after dark, which could indicate feeding in the past 24 hours.

I would recommend we all take a conservative approach to any intervention, discourage people from getting under the owl or in the tree and enjoy this special event for a few days. And what a special thing it is!

All of the below material was extracted and quoted from the Cornell Ornithology Website, Birds Anline . I would highly recommend this site for researched based information, especially when unusual situations like the present one occur. I have highlighted ( BOLD type ) some key points:



?Although the Burrowing Owl is easy to find and watch during the summer breeding season, a fact that has encouraged numerous studies of its breeding biology, its life during migration and winter is essentially unknown.

?Daily Time Budget

Known to be diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal, depending on time of year . Breeding owls observed foraging for insects at all hours of the day. Radio-tagged males known to fly long distances (range 50?2700 m from the nest burrow) between 20:00 and 06:30 h ( Haug and Oliphant 1990 ). Primarily nocturnal other times of the year, spending daylight hours in burrows or other roosts ( Martin 1973a , Butts 1976 ).



Recommended Citation

Haug, E. A., B. A. Millsap and M. S. Martell. 1993. Burrowing Owl ( Athene cunicularia ), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/061

doi:10.2173/bna.61













Best regards,




Dan Reiff

MercerIsland

"Dan Reiff, PhD" <notcalm at comcast.net>;