[MDOsprey] Saw-whet Owl Roosting Behavior
Mike Callahan (raptorsrule@juno.com)
Thu, 30 Dec 1999 20:36:46 -0500
Howdy fellow birders,
I have been attempting to get my lifer Saw-whet Owl for quite some time
now and rather intensely over the past week. I have been to a Saw-whet
roost every other day this week, only to disappointedly not find the owl
roosting where it was expected to be. However, this particular owl has
been found roosting by other birders in the exact same pine tree between
4 and 5 PM every other day. Maybe it is coincidence, but I visited the
same roost tree at 5 PM today, and sure enough the bird was right where
expected. Not only did I see the actual bird, but watched it cast a
pellet, and found it's stash of White-footed Mice in a near by tree. By
the time I left the site it was getting dark and I came across a roosting
Sharp-shinned Hawk. I was less than 15 feet from the hawk when I looked
up and realized we were looking at each other eye to eye. Not to disturb
either raptor, I left immediately and quietly.
Does anyone know if using a different roosting tree every other day is a
common behavior for Saw-whet or any other owl species?
On the way back to my vehicle I found displaying Woodcocks. A friend saw
woodcocks displaying at his house in Brandywine a month ago. I was under
the impression that woodcocks didn't normally display until much later in
the winter. Does any one know what the earliest date they have been seen
courting. Thank you in advance for your reply to my first posting on the
MDOsprey!
Naturally,
Mike Callahan