Adventures With Mel & Syd: Kissin Cousins

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

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Kissin Cousins

Have you ever been confused on the difference of the Barred owl and its cousin the Northern Spotted owl?

The Barred Owl (L)
(Strix varia) is closely related to the Spotted Owl (R)
(Strix occidentalis) and tends to be more aggressive than its smaller, spotted cousin. As a result, where populations meet, it is usually the Barred Owl that retains the majority of territories.

Both species have dark brown eyes and horn colored beaks.
The Barred Owl (L)has vertical barring on its belly (horizontal on the breast) while its western cousin the Spotted (R) has horizontal barring (which often appears blotchy or spotted) on its belly and tends to be a darker brown overall.
Where populations overlap, these two species will interbreed.
Progeny from these mating's are known as Sparred Owls.