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April 18, 1991 - Owls: Truly the Tigers of the Forest'C8 The Suffolk Times • Aprii 18, 1991 Owls: Truly the Tigers of the Forest By Paul Stoutenburgh I have but two eyes and can get around just so far but my reading public has many eyes and covers hundreds of miles. The result this week was two great nesting observations related to me about the same species of predator, the great horned owl. In all my wanderings I've only seen two nests of these great owls, one atop an old osprey nest in the Town of Southampton years ago, the other in an abandoned squirrel's nest in the Town of Southold. Of the two re- cent nesting reports one was atop a bro- ken section of a hollow oak tree and the other was just off the road atop the old leafy nest of a grey squirrel. Both these nests had young in them and both had females watching over them. As the name implies, these are great owls in every respect. They are our tallest and dwarf our little screech owl, which, by the way, it occasionally feeds on. The great homed is even taller than our common barn owl. It is great in the sense it is the fiercest of all predatory owls, attacking anything from a small shrew to a full -sized rabbit. A partial list of its diet might include mice, rats, rabbits, skunks, opossums, birds of all sorts and sizes from the smallest song bird to a large duck. Yes, even occasionally my tree - roosting chickens. These owls are truly the tigers of the forest, attacking skillfully and quietly at night. Look for Pellets Most of the food is swallowed whole, whenever the size is convenient. This necessitates the undigested parts such as fur, feathers and bones being regurgi- tated in tightly packed pellets, which are easily found under the owl's favorite roost. Should you be interested in find- ing an owl roost look on the ground in groves of evergreens. The pellets are rather grayish in color and are two to four inches in length. These pellets are perfectly clean and are often collected by naturalists and science classes for dissecting at a later date. The bones can be reassembled into a clean skeleton of the rat or mouse that was swallowed. Often you can see the Focus on Nature whole skull of the victim included in the fur of the pellet. Scientists often use these pellets to determine what rodents live in the area. Most owls hunt at night and roost or sleep during the day. The color of the great horned owl is mostly brown with flecks of white and black throughout, giving it perfect camouflage for roosting purposes. Sitting still on a branch close to the trunk of a tree they are difficult to pick out from their woody surroundings. When I visited the nest just recently I had great views of the owl looking down on me and when it finally flew away I was again amazed at its huge size. Because of its soft feathers owls can fly without making the usual noises associated with rapid wing beats, thereby letting the owl approach its vic- tim without being heard. Because roosting birds are often snatched from their perch at night, they have become the owl's No. 1 harasser. Once discovered, the battle cry goes out and the troops (other birds) come out in force to annoy the owl. Often you can see owls when crows or bluejays are making a ruckus in the nearby woods. These two, the crows and jays in partic- ular, spend hours bugging owls and, to a lesser degree, hawks. In number they divebomb and sound their most merce- nary calls until the owl is driven away. Owls Are Winter Nesters The nests I visited each had two downy whitish young, which I would guess would put their age at about three weeks. These big owls will lay from one to six eggs and, like most predatory young, not all will survive. If food is scarce only the strong and aggressive will take over to be fed. Even if the food is readily available there's always the risk of the young being pushed out of the nest or accidentally falling out. It takes about 35 days to incubate the eggs. Added to the three - week -old Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh YOUNG GREAT HORNED OWLS —Great horned owls lay their eggs during the winter months. These downy young are about three weeks old and are atop a broken oak tree in Mattituck. young, this would put egg- laying time in the latter part of February. Pretty chilly to be sitting on eggs, I'd say, but nevertheless true. I remember seeing a classic picture of a great horned owl covered with snow to show how early they nested. The thing we want to re- You can significantly reduce these Where 5% ,r r` energy loss numbers by installing la% STYROFOAM* brand insu- THROUGH THROUGH CEILINGS WINDOWS lation, the Blue* rigid foam insulation manufactured f 'THROUGH the THROUGH by The Dow Chemical 17% THROUGH.* Company. FRAME .: ;a::.:r'Sr: :. -_ eat WALLS - , Note: Percentages based on a typical �� house with R• 11 hafts, fiberboard sheathing �. on the frame walls. an R -19 rated attic and 38% uninsulated concrete basement walls. b5 -,.h- - THROUGH goeS 1r AIR INFILTRATION 22 %. THROUGH BASEMENT WALLS .�' 1% THROUGH CAUTION: STYROFOAM brand insulation is com- ' BASEMENT bustible and should be handled and installed properly FLOOR according to Dow literature available from your supplier or from Dow. � J T Southold Lumber *Trademark of The Dow chemical Company. Youngs Ave., Southold • 765 -2552 member here is that the owl's food sup- ply is available year -round and not tied to the warmer seasons like most other birds. In six weeks the owlets will be al- most fully grown and will start to fly and be on their own. The parents then will bring less and less food, forcing the young to start hunting and feeding themselves. At first they'll probably catch large insects but with youthful appetites they'll soon move into larger prey. Shortly after that they'll be driven off or just wander off on their own for each owl has its own territory. Owls have extremely acute hearing. The flattish feathered face acts as a disc to help concentrate sound in the large ear slits that are placed so that prey can be located by triangulation. We're told a great horned owl can locate its prey by the sound it makes in the forest floor a hundred yards away. Great horned owls mate for life yet seem to choose a different nesting site each year, but always in the general lo- cality. Their low repeated hoot -hoot is truly a sound of the wild. While many never see these terrors of the forest, many will hear them for they could be nesting almost anywhere here on the East End. It's a bird that has found its niche in the great scheme of things. It has few natural enemies, man being its greatest. Only through education can we help to keep these wonderfully wild predators amongst us.