FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Re: Barn Owl

[<birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

Neat topic. If the Barn Owl in question was killed by a predator, it was 
almost certainly a Great Horned. Great Horned's will kill and consume a 
careless  Barn Owl without hesitation. When this has been observed, if there 
is no building or hollow nearby for the Barn Owl's escape at the appearance 
of the Great Horned, the Barn Owl will often basically give up and allow the 
Great Horned to pounce on and kill it without any real effort at defense. 
Not that it would matter much.

The only other "enemy" of the Barn Owl generally noted, is the Prairie 
Falcon. They are known to savagely harass Barn Owl's at any opportunity. 
This includes sometimes killing the Owl from a stoop. Once again, the Barn 
Owl will seek cover if available, but make no effort at defending itself. No 
mention that I've seen of Peregrine's attacking Barn Owls, but that wouldn't 
surprise me.

How the feathers came to be in the state they were in, that's a different 
question!

Good Birding!!

Mike Todd
McKenzie, TN
Carroll Co.
birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.pbase.com/mctodd

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charlie" <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <dgpatterson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "TN-Bird" <TN-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 8:00 PM
Subject: [TN-Bird] Re: Barn Owl


> David,
>
> I couldn't see a Cooper's doing it.  A Great-horned, however, would
> have no problem.  They take skunks regularly, and they outweight Barn
> Owls well enough.
>
> But feathers were cut?  That doesn't compute to me.  And finding only
> feathers from wing, and all from the same wing?  This sounds like an
> act of human to me.  Perhaps someone found a dead bird and was
> collecting feathers?
>
> As far as whether the bird could fly minus feathers - I seriously
> doubt that any bird could fly if it were missing 12 flight feathers
> from one wing.  You mention that at least one was a secondary.  What
> were the others you saw?
>
> How closely did you look at the feathers?  Could they have been
> chewed through by a rodent?
>
> Very curious observation.
>
> Charlie
>
>
>
> --- David & Gloria Patterson <dgpatterson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> About 2/1/05 neighbor Charles Simcox gave me a feather he found
>> under a stand of White Pines between our houses.  He wondered what
>> it was.
>> I thought owl or hawk, looked through field guides, but it didn't
>> match... sent it to Kevin Calhoon, who thought it was a right wing
>> secondary from a Barn Owl, which does match,- I hadn't considered
>> Barn Owl.
>>
>> Charles showed me where he found it, and we found 6 more, all
>> similar and right wing.  He said he had picked up another 5 or so
>> and discarded them.
>>
>> The seven I have looked at are all cut off at the base, as with
>> sharp scissors, not pulled out, no other feathers or down or blood.
>>
>>
>> What happened?  We have a large Cooper's Hawk and some Great Horned
>> Owls in the area, but it's hard to see how either one of them could
>> have cut off a handful of feathers from one location and nothing
>> else.  I suppose the Barn Owl could still fly with a dozen missing
>> feathers on one wing.
>>
>> My own estimate is a Great Horned Owl's agression rather than a a
>> Cooper Hawk's feeding.  Suggestions welcome.
>>
>> David and Gloria Patterson
>> Houston Lane, Ooltewah, Chattanooga, Hamilton County
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>
> =====
> *******************************************************************
> Charlie Muise, Naturalist in
> Great Smoky Mountains National Park
>
> "To the dull mind all nature is leaden.  To the illuminated mind
> the whole world sparkles with light."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson
>
>
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>
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  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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