While I am no owl expert, I have extensive field knowledge of Barred Owls.



The species of owl is not mentioned, but my bet would be that the majority, if not all, these attacks are being done by Barred Owls.



For whatever reason, Barred Owls in the Pacific Northwest are a bit larger and a whole lot meaner of temperament than their eastern cousins. Most of the attacks on humans that I am informed of occur either during the nesting season or in the fall, particularly October.

The nesting season attacks are more understandable ? the defense of the young is instinctive to Barred Owls as it is to us. Barred Owls during nesting season are a bit more aggressive in their defense of young than most other species.



The fall attacks are a bit more complex to understand. When I first started hearing about reports of attacks in the fall, I suspected it was due to young, inexperienced birds attempting to claim territory, or by adult birds in defense of an established territory. Young Barred Owls disperse in August from the natal site, wander around a bit before setting down in a new territory, or remain as ?floaters? loosely using other pairs territory and keeping a low profile.



I have since come to believe that there is a bit more to them, in that the attacks are related to ?The Autumnal Recrudescence of the Amatory Urge? (poem by Susan Stiles) ? the re-awakening of hormones perhaps being brought on by the length of daylight being similar to what it was in March. Barred Owls go on eggs in the Puget Sound area the first week in March. That would infer that these attacks are being conducted by adult birds that know what they are doing. Anyone who has been smacked in the head by a Barred Owl knows full well that it wasn?t an accident.



I am not aware of any fall attacks that took place during daylight. Most of the attacks occur within a few hours of sunrise or sunset, and are targeted against joggers and runners primarily. Wearing head ware doesn?t seem to alter the likelihood of being attacked, but it does prevent talon to skin contact. Attacks are initiated from behind in virtually every instance, unless it is in defense of young. Even then, the first attack is usually from behind.



While I know the scientific world cringes when we anthropomorphize animals, individual Barred Owls have personalities and behaviors that are both predictable and change with the seasons. I know of individual Barred Owls that are almost hand tamed and docile, but turn into the devil during nesting season. As a species, the are both adaptable and intelligent (hence their ability to overrun the PNW).



Several years ago a trail and park on Bainbridge was posted with warnings and trail closure due to a particularly aggressive Barred Owl.

The Park District opted as their solution to post the trail as closed so as to remove their liability for anything that happened, and allowed the owl to have its territory. I can also see the possibility of a particular bird being declared a ?nuisance? bird, and having it removed (killed or relocated.)



To answer your friend?s question more directly, I would suggest that if she wanted to avoid an owl encounter, she could change her hours of park visitation- go during daylight hours and avoid dusk/dawn situations.



J. Acker

Bainbridge Island, WA

owler at sounddsl.com







From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of earthman1950 at comcast.net
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 6:38 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Owl question





I have an owl question that I hope someone can help me with. I asked this on the Whatcom Birds listserve, the area where I lived until recently, and I received a number of good replies. It was suggested by one person that I ask the question here too.



I have a colleague who lives in Kirkland who has become terribly frightened of owls. She lives by a 26 acre "wild area" that the city has purchased and has been adding trails to. She takes her Labrador Retriever on walks in the park, but since September, she has had an owl(s) swoop down very close to her head on 6 occasions. Once recently, when she drove home and got out of her car, an owl came out of a tree in her yard and swooped down on her. The last time she was at the park, there were a number of folks around, but the owl went for her. She is now to the point that she is scared to death of owls, and has found cases on the internet of owls hurting people with their talons when they flew down. She feels as if the owl(s) is targeting her.



I have had people in Bellingham tell me that has happened to them, both on the trail from 36th St. to Lake Padden, and on the road above the Clayton Beach parking lot at Larrabee State Park, two places where I have walked many times and seen many Barred Owls. I have watched so many owls, including young ones being fed by adults, but have never had that happen to me, even when I have been fairly close and hiking with a dog.

I have tried to reassure my colleague that it is very unlikely that she would get hurt by an owl, but I told her I would put the question out to this listserve because there are a lot of knowledgeable birders here.



At this point, she is even talking about moving back to California where she came from originally, and she is afraid to go to the park, which was the reason she moved to that area from another part of the Puget Sound in the first place.



What do you think? Should she be worried that she could be injured? She already is wearing a hood when she walks, and she thought of bringing an umbrella too, but now she just won't go near the place. What do you think I should tell her?



George Heleker

Whidbey Island

earthman1950 at comcast.net