The Wonders of Strigiformes

Barn Owls? Not at this latitude, but we’ve got ten other owl species that are common: big ones and small ones living in the forest surrounding our home. They can frequently be seen hunting our horse pastures in search of rodents or rabbits. With a meter of snow presently on the ground their hunting techniques adapt to the environmental conditions during the year. During the snow- free time of the year, they hunt on the wing covering a substantial amount of ground quickly. However, in the winter season, they perch on the fence posts or some other location and scrutinize the area in front of them looking for the signs and sounds they have come to know as made by the small furry creatures living under the snow.

Many people don’t know that under the snow cover, there is usually a community of creatures that continue on with their regular lives despite the sub-zero conditions above the snow layer. It can be -30C ambient above the snow, but under the snow the temperature is often near the freezing mark as these creatures travel through tunnels they have made between nesting dens and food caches. Momma mice still give birth to their young during the long cold winter season huddled in the warmth of the middens they have made. A midden is a shelter rodents make out of long grasses and moss and looks like a ball of grass or a bird nest with a closed top – just a small hole to enter and exit.

Foxes and owls are famous for their winter hunting abilities. They listen for rodents moving under the snow and can capture them with remarkable accuracy. Owls catch the mouse in its talons after listening from a distance and determining where the small creature is when those sharp talons pierce the snow and hold the mouse firm. Foxes can be seen listening while turning their heads from one direction to another in order to pin-point the location of the mouse ahead of them. With a high arching jump the fox pounces on the mouse through the snow. Not all attempts are successful, and practice will improve results for young foxes and owls to secure a meal.

But they will never run out of mice to practice on. Depending on the availability of food and when conditions are good, momma mice can give birth to a litter of babies up to ten times per year and there can be from one to sixteen pups per litter. And the next generation will only need 6 to 8 weeks to reach reproductive maturity so they too can start having babies.

Rabbits are normally captured by owls diving down on the bunny from altitude and frequently push the rabbit deeper into the snow preventing an easy escape. As shadows from above can alert the rabbits, they are normally captured at night when the owls have the advantage of superior sight and silent flight.

The Great Horned Owl is one of the larger raptor species that has evolved short wide wings that allow it to fly silently between the trees with remarkable agility and speed as it hunts for hares, birds, squirrels and mice. They may sometimes come close for a better look at us as we hike through the forest often causing some alarm as they glide silently into your field of view - just a few yards ahead of you. They have little fear as they know they have the advantage for escape, which results in getting quite close to them.

The spring mating season is properly announced by the hooting of the male owls calling to potential mates. Once a pair have concluded their mating rituals, they then focus on a nest to raise their offspring. Great Horned Owls will often take over a nest high in a tree built by Red-Tailed Hawks. There may be some fighting involved as the hawks are reluctant to give up a nest they worked hard to build. The size and strength of the Great Horned Owls or Great Greys usually provides them the advantage to take what they want. They may use the same nest in subsequent years if it remains intact, so battles with the other nest builders are not always an annual event.

Our cat we suspect has been buzzed by an owl because whenever they start to hoot at night the cat demands to be let back in the house RIGHT NOW! She’s the same size as a rabbit so we expect the predator owls have neighbourhood cats on their menu.

When there are eggs in the nest one of the adult owls will be setting on them, while the other stands guard in a nearby tree. When ravens fly by the nesting site there is a series of warning hoots made by both adult owls to keep the black thieves away, Ravens will often steal eggs or hatchlings from the nests of other bird species, but not other ravens - like it is some form of internal species agreement.

We have ten species of owls here in the Yukon ranging from the very large Great Grey Owl to the diminutive Northern Saw-Whet Owl, however we do not see Barn Owls very often. The local bird-club lists Barn Owls as “rare” on their inventory of occurring bird species, but as the planet warms and migration patterns evolve, they may one day become a frequent visitor.

The Snowy Owls from high up in the tundra will often hunt our pastures on their way to the lower latitudes where they will spend the winter. They are magnificent birds and don’t mind posing for pictures once they have secured a meal.

In the spring and early summer we receive injured owls at the Wildlife Preserve. These are usually fledglings or immature birds learning how to make a living in the wilderness, but some have taken up a few bad habits.

Some have learned that there is easier rodent hunting on the highways rather than in the forest or on grasslands. The bird will sit on a nearby tree or telephone pole and watch the road surface for rodents crossing. They become so fixated on the moving mouse, they fail to see the approaching truck which may result in an injurious collision. Aerodynamic advances on modern freight trucks have resulted in a benefit for these birds as the airflow over the hood of the truck, the windshield and the top of the trailer provides a cushion of air that will guide the bird up and over the trailer, but even then some collisions do occur stunning the bird and perhaps damaging some flight feathers.

When we care for these injured owls, they get fed a high protein diet and any meds they may require for healing quickly and completely. We raise quail from eggs for these raptors to eat and they can eat a lot of them. Our goal is to return these animals back to the wild once they have sufficiently healed.

Owls play an important role in the culture of our aboriginal peoples too, here in the Yukon, the owl was associated with the supernatural and held great ceremonial significance. The owl was sometimes featured in arctic stories and legends. For example, the legend of the greedy owl tells of an owl, a raven, a gull, a falcon and a skua living in a cave in human form. When trying to please a new guest, each bird went in search of the best food, but the owl tried to chase two hares at once, tearing himself in two. It was thought that owls pleaded to their hunters not to shoot them. Some cultures believed that owls flying and hooting nearby warned of bad luck, death and disaster and the rapidity of an owl’s hooting was thought to predict the weather: for example, a slow hoot in morning foretells a warm day.

Owl primary feathers were traditionally used for fletches on arrows and throwing spears and adornment on ceremonial costumes. Talons were often worn around the neck on a bit of sinew or moose hide thong.

Owls are fascinating creatures and whenever I encounter one during my travels in our local wilderness, I spend some time to observe and take more pictures. Back in the late 90’s we had a Great Horned nest in our back yard. Watching the hatchlings watching us from on high got to be a regular activity.

There is growing concern for the health of owls and other raptor species worldwide due to the increasing use of rodenticides to eliminate mice, rats and similar pests. It’s a simple thing to understand by connecting the dots: Mice eat the poison, owls and other creatures eat the poisoned mice, the poison levels build up in those that eat the mice leading to their eventual death, and it is not a quick and painless death either. Some poisons are anticoagulants causing the animal to bleed to death internally. Other poisons alter the body chemistry sometimes causing a slow painful death as muscles twist and contort while primary organs such as lungs, livers and kidneys stop functioning.

Poison is being used more often because it is easier for humans to set it and forget it. Deploy the poison, sit back and wait for things to die. I suspect some of this is because many people do not like to be involved with rodents either dead or alive, so the out of sight-out of mind effect outweighs using mechanical traps that require humans to remove the cadavers and reset the trap now covered in mouse germs.

Oddly a greater concern for eradicating these small creatures leans to more humane ways to deal with the pests. Poison may appear to be more humane than the old-fashioned Victor snap trap or the morally superior live trap which allows live caught mice to be set free in another location. Whatever your position on humane pest trapping and eradication, the effects of the eradication methods used should not be transferred to other species to suffer from. Some people become quite confounded when the veterinarian has to explain the family cat died because of poisoning.

Owls like most other wild creatures may suffer from the ignorance and uncaring activities of humans. I believe that education of these matters will hopefully guide people to do the right things when wild creatures are involved. To learn more, contact or join your local animal protection organization – We can make life better for the planet’s wild things.