Conclusions to earlier supposition concerning Owls

This is my second post for the day. I guess I should have waited. Patience has never been any of the things that I am good at, so a follow up is necessary.

                              There are four nest boxes across and four deep. They measure 12x12X12.

I admit that the study of Owls by me has been merely accidental. I am quite sure that if there was a measurement, I would fall somewhere close to ignorance of the subject. My knowledge has come from mostly incidental and bad experiences. That has also mostly concerned Horned Owls. Horned Owls are a real pain. They have a tendency to try to eliminate any and all possible competition for Prey species. If that happens to be a semen donor Peregrine, Or a perched Goshawk, tough luck.

Great Horned Owls will kill every Pigeon that moves or makes its self known in a Pigeon house. They will kill a full grown Chicken and eat only the head. They regularly kill house Cats that are not cautious enough to avoid them.

Barn Owls however are generally known as the good guys. They eat a tremendous number of Mice and Rats each night. Apparently they are quite capable of adjusting to extreme conditions when necessary. I think you will recall that I was telling you that the weather here was putting the wildlife in danger. A danger that they are not used to, since the weather this year is a lot colder and snow many times deeper and longer lasting than is usual. This "global warming" is kicking our butts for sure.

The snow is heavily crusted now and there is no reason for a Mouse or Vole to ever have to come to the surface. The Harriers compensate by turning their hunting pressure on the Quail, and they are relentless. Apparently the Barn Owls are turning to other food sources as well.

I mentioned the reasons that I didn't think my predator on the Chickens and Pigeons was a Great Horned Owl. It appears that it has been this little guy at the top of the page. The Chickens that I have been losing have all been Old English which is about the size of a big Pigeon. My confusion came because if it had been a GHO it would have been a slaughter. This was precision.

I found the Owl this morning and he was sitting where he was in the picture above. I decided to leave him in there and release him this evening. I went out at dusk to do just that and he was not where I had left him. I looked better and found him to be in one of the nest boxes trying to eat a frozen Squab. That explains the cache's that I noticed earlier. I opened the Door expecting him to bolt out to freedom. Nothing happened! I looked harder and could see his back in one of the nest boxes. I had to go in and pat the side of the box to get him to leave.

I had been dropping a solid door down in front of the Pigeon access each night. When I would let them out the next morning I had apparently been locking a predatory Owl in with them a lot of the nights. He would have just sit quietly in one of the corners or nest boxes with his back to the door where he would not be seen. Normally I would not have opened the big door at all.

Life just got tougher for him, the Buffet is now closed. There are no more Pigeons and the Chickens are under wire.