I found this little guy and 2 of its siblings in a tree near my garden. I think it is a screech owl and its only about 3 inches tall. I can't believe I was so lucky to even see it in the tree. Its only about 3-4 inches tall.
Have you ever felt like you were being watched?
cute pic! it may be a barred owl. there was a mated pair that raised chicks each year out by the creek behind my house. the adults get big and make the weirdest noises! scared the heck out of me and the dog the first time we heard them! lol
tracie
What kind of noises. This sounds like a snore or a whistle.
well, apparently the really weird noise is the adults mating call. sounds like a monkey! here is a link to a page about barred owls. if you scan down there are sound bites. the second one was the first calls that we heard that kinda freaked us out!
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/barred_owl.htm
tracie
Too cool! I would love to have some owls nest down at our little creek. We have heard some owls a couple times at night but not consistently. That little owl is a cutie.
After reading an article on the BBC about owls being used as pest control in Israel, I think I have almost have my hubby talked into hiring a tree climber to place a few owl boxes around. We occasionally have rats in the yard and trying to live under the shed, so some owls would be nice.
Very cool, but very creepy at the same time! LOL
What a neat photo! And a cute bird. I'd bet your picture would be a hit on the Bird forum too. Those eyes remind of cats' eyes and not what I'd think of an owls' eyes. I suppose that is because it was daylight. Amazing you can even see her wicked talons... lol Thanks for sharing.
Great picture. It look like a sleepy baby that just woke up. You were lucky!
There is an owl that has been close to my house and barn for years and I've yet to see it. I hear it all the time though. In fact early this morning I heard it doing the Whooo, Whoooo thing. Every time I walk in the direction of the sound it stops. It just drives me crazy. I want to see it so bad.
Jerry
I have one that does the same thing, Jerry. It lives either in one of our trees or the neighbors, can't tell which.
What makes the story a liitle stranger is that on Tuesday I went out to feed at dusk and a bird flew near me and there was something "odd" about it. It made a different noise so I saw it land and when I got close enough I saw it was a small owl (adult). I thought it was so cool then the next night I went to the garden and I heard a bunch of commotion in a tree when I went to see what was going on I just happened to spot this little guy. Never found the source of all the noise. I can't believe I was lucky enough to even see it and then it's siblings too. Maybe I will post it on the bird forum I put it on the wildlife forum though.
Lisa
Aggie-I don't think it is a Barred owl because the adult was really small and didn't sound anything like the link you posted. I didn't realize birds could sound like monkeys.
Here's one we had visiting us last March. First noticed him from the "pellets" it left in the yard right under his perch. http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Digestion
He is absolutely beautiful. I live on 26 acres, I can't believe that I was lucky enough to even see this one.
Congrats on the owl and thanks for sharing it with us.
Carla
1lisac, DH says your owl is an adult screech owl. I don't know one from another, but he usually does.
One year we had a family of owls in our yard for several months. That was probably 3 years ago and they haven't been back. But we did get some pictures. We felt very honored by their presence. They are such awesome creatures and very friendly really. They sat on the lowest branch possible usually and seemed to be very curious about everything we did. The pictures are on DH's desktop, so I have to get him to transfer them to mine so I can post them here.
Silver- I can hardly wait to see your pictures. I felt really honored also but while I was unsure of what kind of owl it was I'm sure it's a fledgling, because I saw an adult near by but it wouldn't let me get that close. Also, there were 2 others in the tree and its hard to tell from the pictures but this one is really small, and it hadn't feathered out yet. All three of the babies watched me as closely as I watched them.
Lisa
I'm not sure why he said adult because it looked to me like it just had baby feathers. Did you see a nest anywhere? We never did. We just saw 5 owls.
For most than ten years, we've had screech owls raise families in our special owl nesting box here in Bellaire (Houston). We learned several years ago to secure it onto a chain so we could lower the box easily if grey squirrels tried to move in. By keeping records of exactly when the owls moved in, we learned when to get the box out of storage and put it up, thereby largely resolving the squirrel problem. One year a pair of starlings set up housekeeping, but the screech owls dislodged them. We bought the special nesting box locally; if you want one be sure to get one designed specifically for screech owls (right size hole and large enough that predators can't reach down through the hole to grab the owlets).
From research on screech owls, we learned that the male owl finds several potential nesting locations. He then takes the female to see each one. Does this sound familiar? She selects the site she prefers and moves in. She doesn't lay her egg immediately, but about a week or so later she does. The male roosts somewhere nearby where he can keep an eye on her and the nesting site during the entire time she's in the box. They trade off duty at night. After the owlets hatch and have grown, some of the mother owls let the baby (babies) peek out of the hole. For the last three years, the resident mother owl hasn't allowed this so we haven't seen the babies. Eventually, the owlet(s) is ready to fly and the entire family leaves.
The box is always clean when we take it down. Don't ask me how. Only once did we find an unhatched egg in the box. We enjoy watching the owls from our porch. Some are shyer than others, but most sit in the entry hole and watch us while we're watching them (especially after the owlet(s) hatch and the box gets crowded). A year or so ago, there was a video camera placed in an owl box in Austin onto which you could log and watch the owls. It was fascinating to see the male owl bring food to the female who didn't always seem to appreciate his offering! I no longer have the link. We discussed putting a video cam inside our owl box, but the technical issues seemed too great to bother with.
Leslie
Ok this is one of our owls. I wish they would come back.
Three in one here.:)
What a study he is.:)
Leslie-that info is so interesting I can't believe they were doing all this and I didn't even know they were here. I thought they were gone but I found them higher in the tree and all three are together. I'm sure they have been watching me wondering why I was wandering aimlessly around, they really blend in. Do the parents feed them even though they are out of the nest?
Lisa
I live near downtown Houston - below is a link to a neighbors 'owlcam'. The VIDEO link from their homepage is a selection of videos taken with a small B&W camera attached to the ceiling of the owl box.
http://www.owlcam.rosebudssupport.org/
We just found all 5 in a near by tree. Two adults and 3 fledglings. I also saw a fox going after my chickens and guineas in broad day light right in front of the barn. Anyway these owls have me fasinated but they look as if they are fasinated by us also. They lean Waaaay over to watch us.
Lisa