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Re: Long-eared owls

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"Marcus Simpson, Jr."

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Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:56:35 -0400

There are nesting records not "too" far from here in the Blue Ridge of
Pennsylvania, at Kings Gap Environmental Education and Training Center.
The directions are in my 1992 book "Birds of the Blue Ridge Mountains"
(UNC Press, Chapel Hill, NC). There have been additional nestings near the
Center after the book was publilshed, but I don't have any of the details.
The site is accessed from I-81 onto PA 233 east to PA 3006 and then north
on PA 3006 (DeLorme p. 77 D 6-7); information is available on the
internet. There are also calling records of the owl farther south, even at
Grandfather Mountain, Doughton Park, and the Wilkesboro area in North
Carolina, although I am not aware of any breeding evidence. So maybe these
are thinking about nesting in Maryland; it is a little bit early, although
there are records from the 1st of March; Johnsgard gives mid-March to
mid-May as the typical peak time for egg records.

Mark Simpson

Winston Salem, NC


> I am going to admit some ignorance as to the owls we have been viewing.
> I thought they were probably migrating thru and were not likely to stay
> here. That's because I never bothered to consult my only Owl book.
> Although it is dated, -Alcorn, 1986 - it says and I quote, "It is not
> highly migratory and the winter range is approximately that of the
> breeding range."
>     I have been advised by more knowledgeable folks than me that we are
> probably disturbing a pair that want to breed. The fact that they keep
> moving only underscores the likelihood that we are disturbing them.
>     With this in mind, I recommend that the tours stop. I know another
> tick
> on a list is exciting, but I for one have decided to discontinue
> visiting Morgan Run for a while. I hope others act responsibly and do
> the same. It practically took somebody hitting me over the head with it.
>     For reference I stole the page out of Birder's Handbook on them, so
> here
> are some more interesting facts:
>
> BREEDING: Conifer and mixed conifer-deciduous forest, especially near
> water; occasionally deciduous forest, also parks, orchards, farm
> woodland.  1 brood. Mating system is monogamous
> DISPLAYS: Courtship: male flies in erratic zigzag with deep, slow
> wingbeats, occasionally gliding and clapping wings together beneath
> body.  Courtship feeding.
> NEST: Usually in abandoned nests (especially crow, also squirrel, hawk,
> magpie, heron, raven).  Perennial.  Rarely scrape on ground, of small
> sticks, inner bark strips, pine needles.  Female selects site.
> EGGS: White. 1.6" (40 mm).
> CHICK DEVELOPMENT: Female incubates. Incubation takes 26-28 days.
> Development is semialtricial (immobile, downy, eyes closed, fed). Young
> are able to fly after 23-26 days. Both sexes tend young.
> DIET: Overwhelmingly rodents, rarely amphibians, reptiles, fish,
> insects. Hunts over open areas, strictly nocturnal.  Ejects pellets.
>
> CONSERVATION: Winters s to c Mexico.
> NOTES: Occasionally nests in loose colonies; prey density may determine
> breeding density.  Pair bond long-term where sedentary on year-round
> territories.  Male feeds incubating female.  Young hatch asynchronously;
> female broods.  Young fly at about 34 days; parents feed them for 56-63
> days.  Perform distraction display in groups when colonial.  Family unit
> retained perhaps until winter.  Roosts, often communally, in dense
> cover, less often in caves, rock crevices.
>
>
> Copyright © 1988 by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye.
>
>     Jerry Tarbell
>     Carroll County