Reply With QuoteNice post Dan, thanks for sharing! I'm completely into owls after reading about Wesley!!
How cute are these though?! THey look like little furbeys!!!:laugh:
Hope they don't keep you awake!!
At dark and very early morning before dawn. I can hear these little buggers flying over and screeching.
It alarmed one of my Dobermans as we were outside around 4 am and thus I thought I would share a little about this cute, yet effective nocturnal hunters.
During the breeding season (November), courting Western Screech Owls may keep up a constant chatter of calls that sounds as if the birds are harmonizing. They may start calling in the winter. They will often respond to imitations of their calls.
Their ear tufts are relatively short and spaced apart like those of the Great Horned Owl. The tufts may be held erect or flattened depending upon the situation at hand. The real ear openings are located on the side of the head and are slightly offset from each other. This positioning enables the owl to use triangulation to trace sounds and locate potential prey at night.
This is a small Owl at only eight to nine inches tall,with a wing span of about 22".
In most of its range, the Western Screech Owl nests in cavities in dead or live trees or stumps.
The chicks start fledging at around only 28 days old!!!
If the first try is unsuccessful or they just fall out of the nest. The easily climb right bak up the tree to their nest using sharp talons and beak.
Here is a clutch being measured and weighed by the department of fish and game. They were placed back in the nest after data was logged.
How big is that beak?
Hey lets just check one at a time please, you'll all get your turn!
Now thats better!
Finally, fully grown... WHOOOoooo is it?
<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2010/01/16 14:28
Within all of us is a varying amount of space lint and star dust, the residue from our creation. Most are too busy to notice it, and it is stronger in some than others. It is strongest in those of us who fly and is responsible for an unconscious, subtle desire to slip into some wings and try for the elusive boundaries of our origin. ~K.O. Eckland, "Footprints On Clouds"
Dayo in flight....
Nice post Dan, thanks for sharing! I'm completely into owls after reading about Wesley!!
How cute are these though?! THey look like little furbeys!!!:laugh:
Hope they don't keep you awake!!
Alfie's Flock!"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
When I was reading this I was intrigued and going to google it to look for pictures ~ but I got to the bottom! Thanks Dan - they are just sooo sweet.
lol Lyn - they do look like Furbies!!! :laugh:
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