Life bird #322
February 9th, 2013
Discovering this guy was a treat. At long last, I'm starting to get a respectable amount of owls on my lifelist!
Northern Hawk-Owls are aptly named. They are among the few fully diurnal (active by day, sleeping at night) owls. They tend to perch less upright than other owls, they flick their tails like kestrels, and they're even known to hover over fields to search visually for prey. (Great Grey Owls, by comparison, use their keen hearing to detect the sound of tiny feet scurrying under the snow.) The rusty barring on this bird's breast, combined with his checkered wings, very much reminds me of a Red-Shouldered Hawk. Not to mention this is the first time I've seen an owl on a power line.
Like Great Grey, this is a boreal species that is seldom seen in our area. It was probably driven south by a lack of prey. And it may well be eating birds rather than mice. I noticed the local chickadees were not pleased with its presence.
Preening:
February 9th, 2013
Discovering this guy was a treat. At long last, I'm starting to get a respectable amount of owls on my lifelist!
Northern Hawk-Owls are aptly named. They are among the few fully diurnal (active by day, sleeping at night) owls. They tend to perch less upright than other owls, they flick their tails like kestrels, and they're even known to hover over fields to search visually for prey. (Great Grey Owls, by comparison, use their keen hearing to detect the sound of tiny feet scurrying under the snow.) The rusty barring on this bird's breast, combined with his checkered wings, very much reminds me of a Red-Shouldered Hawk. Not to mention this is the first time I've seen an owl on a power line.
Like Great Grey, this is a boreal species that is seldom seen in our area. It was probably driven south by a lack of prey. And it may well be eating birds rather than mice. I noticed the local chickadees were not pleased with its presence.
Preening:
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dagibbs
February 9th, 2013 at 1:46 pm
It does look kind of like a cross between an owl and a hawk, doesn't it?
Mike
February 10th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Congrats!
He (?) looks pretty fluffy!