BPQ Bird of the Month

The Great Horned Owl’s nest, begun so early and cared for through late winter and early spring, is the home base to the owlets for many months. They are born covered in down and very cute – unlike many other birds that are born naked or sparsely covered. It may not be biologically correct to call them cute, but it is really hard to resist those large eyes and the begging ‘jweep’ call. Unfortunately we must resist because Great Horned Owls, in common with all other raptorial birds learn their identity from the early contacts they have. In a normal situation this will be Mum and Dad and siblings. This process is called imprinting and is based at a neurological
level – that is, once the hard wiring in the brain is established, it is just that – hard wired and change is impossible.

If we pick them up before this phase is over, then trouble occurs! Their identity is set with humans being rather than their own kind. So? The problem is that these ‘imprints’ will never relate to their own kind in a meaningful way; instead humans will be their ‘own’ kind and we will be the objects of their attention. Normal courtship and territorial behaviours would most likely lead to problems. How would you like an owl to suddenly start wooing you, presenting wonderful gifts of mice or morsels of skunk? How about being evicted from its territory, take a look at its talons; they do hurt when embedded in your arm! Yet this bird would be doing nothing more than its nature dictates. Finding a home, defending it against intruders and looking for a suitable mate. But all wrong because we have somehow interfered with the natural order of things.

So what do you do if you find a small owlet on the ground? Look carefully – does the owlet appear injured? If so, get help before doing anything. It is better to be well organized before taking action. If the little chap seems in good health, you could try just moving it up into a low tree. (Be careful because its folks may be near by.) Then move well away from the area. Nature will take its course.

If the owlet is injured and you have to pick up the little one, try to minimize its visual contact with you. Use a box with lots of crumpled newspaper or strips in it. Pick up the owlet up carefully to ensure you are not hurt and place it in the box and cover it up. Resist the temptation to check it out or watch it.

We are very fortunate to have two organisations here in Quebec that care for raptors: RIB and UQROP. The owlet can be checked out by the veterinarian at UQROP (450-773-8521 ext. 8427) and then transferred to CRIB, which has several owl “foster parents”. These birds are non-releasable owls that enjoy rearing babies.

The Owl in the picture below has occupied an old nest in the Heronry at St-Thimothée

Why not go owling tonight – too cold? Not for the owls. We are so lucky in this region, in that we share the area with the largest owl in Canada, the Great Horned Owl. Not only are they fairly common, they begin the process of setting up their nest and start laying eggs earlier than any other bird here, with the exception of city pigeons! So, put your hat and coat on and head out to areas with large trees and listen – whoo, who, who, whoo, whoo – have you heard them calling?

The male calls to his mate, “Come on over dear, the nest looks cozy tonight.” Their nests are often last year’s crow, heron or squirrel nests, with a few additions. They cannot re-use their own nests, since the wear and tear of a healthy brood of owlets on the nest is something like that in a houseful of young teenage humans.

Courtship starts in December or January and by February things are getting serious – eggs are often laid by the end of the month. Some 26 to 30 days later the little owlets begin to hatch. Now, we are still talking cold weather here, just imagine a March snowfall and you are stuck sitting on your nest – no chance of moving and dependent on the male to keep you and your new babes fed. If the food is available, she may be able to rear her 2 or 3 youngsters, but that means a great deal of work and food must be plentiful. Food can be anything from mice, rabbits and skunks (don’t forget birds have either no or a poor sense of smell, so the skunks odour doesn’t protect it from the Great Horned Owl) to birds, even other predatory birds.