Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 10:52:17 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "David F. Brinker" Organization: Project Owlnet Subject: Re: saw-whets (behavior question) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jordan and MD Osprey readers: This degree of autumn calling is a little unusual. Owl netters occasionally hear Northern Saw-whet Owls calling, or sometimes singing (toot-toot-toot ...), near netting operations. We presume that much of this may be elicited in response to our audiolures. The unsolicited singing that you heard is more unusual, but not too difficult to explain. It may be more common than generally known because keen observers are not normally in Northern Saw-whet Owl breeding habitat at this time of year. Thus, vocalizations such as this could routinely go unnoticed. Control of many of the hormonal influences that regulate breeding behavior in birds is related to day length. It is infrequent, but not too unexpected, to see different bird species go through breeding behaviors in the autumn because their systems have been fooled by the day length change. This is probably what was motivating the all night singing Northern Saw-whet Owl that you heard in Dolly Sods. Saw-whet owls are breeders in the Dolly Sods area and this may have been a young individual that hasn't yet learned to differentiate between spring and autumn. Give it a few weeks, a winter storm or two and it should have it all figured out. Saw-whet Owls also respond strongly to small mammal densities and it is possible that some calling may be related to high prey densities. How are the deer mice doing in the sods this year? Just to complicate the array of possible explanations! This type of behavior can occasionally be observed in other species. The one that I have noted most often is drumming behavior by Ruffed Grouse in the autumn. When I used to routinely work at a raptor migration station in Wisconsin we regularly had Ruffed Grouse drum in the autumn, particularly on nights with a full, or nearly so, moon. The initial burst of higher faster calling was possibly related to your presence as you may have startled or disturbed the saw-whet. Saw-whet owls have a variety of vocalizations other than the standard toot that many birders recognize. They often respond with what we call a whine when they are near our netting operations. There is also what I refer to as a twitter that they use in contexts that make me think it is used when they are annoyed with something. Another call is a rather typical, but distinctive, food begging call that young saw-whet owls use when following their parents just after fledging. It sounds like you had a wonderful experience up at the sods. You should remember this encounter with a seldom seen, but relatively common owl (at least in good northern habitats), for a long time. Finally, the best account of Northern Saw-whet Owl natural history and behavior is the Birds of North America account. Other references are scattered and much more difficult to obtain. Best regards all - Dave Brinker. "Wilkerson, Jordan T." wrote: > > Not in MD, but general calling behavior question > Is it unusual to have a saw-whet call all night this time of year? > > Camping in Dolly Sods Wilderness WV these past few nights. There were > several Saw-Whets. At one point around midnight while hiking in, one > saw-whet burst into a call that started higher and faster than expected, > then slowly eased into to the expected constant toot-toot-toot. He paused > briefly and continued to sing at irregular intervals. This was definitely > not an audio-lure since it was up in a small evergreen not big enough for a > person. There is a banding station in Dolly Sods, but it is on the other > side of the wilderness from where we were. While we never saw the one > calling there was another about 8 feet off the ground and less than 6 feet > away in plain view (even got a few pictures). He was not at all concerned > about us, but seemed very interested in the one calling above us. > > I understood that the owls wouldn't call this time of year. This one called > all night after he began, but we never heard the unexpected beginning part > again. Where can I find good notes on saw-whet and other owl behavior > (seasonal or otherwise)? > > Thanks, > Jordan > Cloverly, MD > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================