SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Mobbing behavior by crows toward a Great Horned Owl..

Mobbing of owls by songbirds or crows may benefit the songbirds or crows in three different ways. It may drive an owl away, it may teach inexperienced offspring that an owl is a dangerous predator, or it may warn naive young that a predator is nearby and that caution is needed. Although owls will sometimes flee from a mob of agitated crows, they are just as likely to do nothing. The owls response may depend on the size of the birds that are mobbing it and the potential risk of injury. For example a Great Horned Owl will usually try to escape to a safer, more hidden refuge. Crows will commonly follow a retreating owl, calling loudly, possibly to rally other crows to join in the chase.
At the 38 second mark of this video the owl is struck violently on the back of the head by a diving crow. This causes the owl to seek a safer, possibly more hidden roost.