Last night at 11:30pm, my daughter Clare Brown and I were driving home along
Magnolia Blvd. in Seattle on our way home from the opera. We were surprised
to see a Barred Owl drop from the trees to the lawn bordering the street.
It was quite close to us. We stopped and watched the owl and it watched us,
and then it turned and looked intently down into the grass. Suddenly, the
owl dove its head into the grass, came up with a large, wriggling worm, and
ate it. Then the owl flew back up into the trees.



Though Barred Owls are known to eat invertebrates, I did not know that they
hunt earthworms. Since most studies of owl diets are done by looking at
prey remains in pellets, it would be easy to miss soft-bodied prey like
worms.



Barred Owls have nested in Discovery Park for many years, but this owl was
quite far from the park. Perhaps it is a young bird from a brood raised in
the park.



Rachel Lawson

Seattle

rwlawson at q.com <mailto:rwlawson at q.com>







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