I've spent a good amount of time over the last 17 years watching Barred
Owls, and was pleased to once see one cough up a pellet. Though I can't
say I remember just how much what I saw looked like what you videoed, I
seem to remember the head moving more forward than up. Though it is only a
guess, my best guess is that your owl was trying to cough up a pellet, but
didn't succeed on the tries that you witnessed. I will be happy to hear
anyone else's thoughts on this.

As some of you know, I have also lead many owl walks in Seattle, and though
I haven't set up for the public lately, I will always lead for groups, or
individuals on request.

-Stewart Wechsler
www.stewardshipadventures.com
206 932-7225 (currently only land line)




Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2017 12:47:00 -0700
> From: whitney.n.k at gmail.com
> Subject: [Tweeters] Barred owl behavior
> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Message-ID: <538DA795-8BE6-4134-9F5F-4CBAE34BFCCB at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi, Tweeters! Yesterday morning, Andy Jacobson and I were at Discovery
> Park and had the great fortune of encountering a Barred Owl. After about 5
> minutes of us watching it, the owl began to open its mouth and bend its
> head backwards. Repeatedly. Andy caught this on video with his iPhone and
> scope (quick thinking!) which is here:
>
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2rPGrhUdEck
>
> Does anyone know what this owl is doing? We kind of expected a pellet to
> come up, but we never saw one. Is it a food-in-crop manipulation to help
> with digestion? Or...?
>
> Thanks for your ideas,
> Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser
> Seattle***************************************
>