Concerning Screech Owls

Screech Owls are the Napoleons of the owl world. Despite their tiny size, they are fearsome predators in the wild. And captive screeches, held for educational purposes, are never truly tamed, and relish every opportunity to pierce their human handler’s tender digits. Despite this, or because of it, they are many people’s favorite owl.

Although they can be quite fierce, Screech Owls, when confused or alarmed, can go into a deeply still state of almost fainting when approached. We call it “going to their happy place”, where they ignore all outside stimulus. This happened to me thrice recently.

The first owl flew into our work vehicle and stunned itself silly. Luckily, we are trained veterinary professionals, and the little owl was whisked to the clinic, radiographed, given fluids, and examined thoroughly. Within 2 hours, the screech seemed unchanged, but knowing the “freeze” mode they go into, we elected to try for a release. And sure enough, once tossed gently into air, he remembered his wings quickly and flew off. He was spotted several more times during the year, so we know he made a full recovery.

The second was “kidnapped” by a couple of other staff members. They saw him swoop at a sparrow, and when he missed, he stayed on the ground. Wanting to help, they scooped him up into the car, where he promptly sat on the back of the passenger seat as though he had been traveling thusly all his life. Again, we examined him, and found nothing wrong. We tasked his erstwhile rescuers with returning him to exactly to where they found him, and he promptly made his escape.

The third screech was mine alone; I found him crumpled next to a plexiglass exhibit wall, the apparent victim of a window strike. But after I touched him gently, he roused, glared at me, and took off. So please, if you find a “hurt” owl, give it a few moments, and encourage it to leave under its own power. If you suspect greater injury, a local wildlife rehabilitator can heal them for return to the wild, where they belong.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinals are one of the most beloved songbirds. As proof, it is the state bird of seven states, more than any other species! Personally, though, I prefer more eclectic birds (and states which have a cool, unique state bird – Greater Roadrunner, from my beloved New Mexico, springs to mind). But all it takes to set off my fascination is a “cardinal of another color”. Last winter, I had a female with white cheek patches visiting my feeders. They gave her a sweet expression. I was never able to get good pictures of her, but have lucked out on this year’s oddity.

The brilliant red of a male cardinal is usually broken only by a dashing black mask around the base of the beak. But this handsome guy only has a “soul patch” of black. I think it gives him a surprised look.

 

Here is a normal male for comparison.

And another view of the special guy; looking grumpy!

3 – Owl Weekend, Plus!

My awesome friend Beth visited for some intense birding this weekend, and we were not disappointed. One of her best finds was a red phase Eastern Screech Owl sitting on a tree in our own backyard! This seemed a good omen to our next quest, finding a Barred Owl at Radnor Lake.

And, voila! Again, the first spotting goes to Beth.

On our return home, we looked for the red Screech, to no avail. Then I spotted a little feathered head poking up from a cavity in the same tree. I didn’t realize it was a different owl until Beth pointed out it was grey! The little she-owl slowly wiggled back down into her nest, but I managed to get a picture.

Lo and behold, one more trip to the tree revealed these two fuzzy nestlings! It was dark, so the image is a little blurred, but I had no idea it wasn’t one of the adults until I downloaded. What a gift, to have this family so close. And yes, we are trying to not harass them too much 🙂 

Goodbye New Mexico

It was so hard to leave New Mexico; it is my favorite place of all I’ve lived. I am now having new adventures in Nashville, Tennessee. I had to move due to my career. I am a zoo veterinary technician, which is a very specialized field, and although I enjoyed my other jobs, I feel that working with exotic animals is my forte. I still intend to publish wildlife images, but interspersed will be cute animals with stories of their lives.
Some may not “like” zoos. I wish they didn’t have to exist. But until there are safe havens for these animals in the wild, we will continue to do our part to conserve and protect. Some last images from Sandia Park –

A dumpy “grey” Western Bluebird, but cute nonetheless, and

A lovely Bullock’s Oriole lady, understated compared to the flashy plumage of the male.

My last New Mexico rainbow.

One Bird, Many Birds

Two of the more unusual “yard birds” to show up in New Mexico. A flock of Sandhill Cranes flies close out of the mountains, and a young Hairy Woodpecker patiently awaits attention from his parents.            

If you enjoy feeding/watering/watching the birds, think about keeping a yard list! You can even put the seasonal visitors down; when they showed up, when they left, compare the list to other yards you have cared for. As for me, I mostly keep my lists in my pictures 🙂

New Mexico Winter

Rosy Finches are among the toughest little birds in North America. They live and breed in high altitude, inhospitable places, and the three species are found in scattered mountain heights from Alaska to Colorado. So they are incredibly difficult to study. Small miracle, then, that during the winter months all three types can be found at the top of the Sandia Mountains in central New Mexico! The Gray-crowned, Brown-capped (pictured), and Black Rosy Finches are beautiful birds.

                 

Volunteer researchers capture them in a spring-loaded trap baited with seed. They rapidly examine, measure, and band each bird, and release them before they overheat (which can happen rapidly when they are brought indoors). These tiny birds thrive in harsh, wintry conditions. It is amazing to watch the flock swirl and dance through the gale strength frozen winds that whip snow off the peaks. And to belie the claim that hummingbirds are the only species that can fly in reverse, I have seen these birds flap into a strong headwind, deliberately overshoot their perch, and then fold their wings and let the wind blow them backwards to where they wanted to land!  

The Rosy Finch Project has been ongoing since 2003 (check out http://cnmas.newmexicoaudubon.org/?page_id=1099 for more information). Even if you are not a fan of being atop a 10.000 foot mountain in the dead of winter, it is worth the visit to see these little miracles and their air ballet with the elements. Other wonderful winter birds abound, too. And you can watch them from the comfort of a cafe that serves hot chocolate and green chili cheeseburgers!

Birds of a Feather

The magic combination of food and water brings in the birds in a New Mexico backyard. This shallow water feature is fed by a slow drip from above.

   

There are always the usual suspects (titmice, juncos, chickadees, etc), but occasionally we were surprised by the unexpected. Robins and Bluebirds, being primarily insectivorous, aren’t tempted by seeds. But a fresh water source in the desert can work wonders. Also, much of the time Pinyon Jays shun human feeders, but a dearth of pinyon nuts one year made our backyard a welcome hangout.

More Alaska!

More pictures from my Alaska trip; some were taken during a wildlife cruise (the sea birds), and the owl during my drive back through the Yukon.

Black-legged Kittiwakes nest in a noisy colony

A floating flock of Common Murres

Great Grey Owl – this bird was initially on the side of the road, and I thought it injured at first. Obviously not!

And a rainbow…

I’ll finish up next week with some mammals!

Bushtits

A large flock of Bushtits sweep through our yard occasionally. Though not a typical “feeder” bird, like many insectivores, they may be drawn in by a water source or a suet block. There are 11 members of the genus Aegithalos, but only one is found in North America! These friendly birds with the funny name will often forage a foot away from a quiet, respectful human.

Their usual Spring song, a series of squeaky toy noises, is replaced in the Fall by quiet chirps that seem to keep the flock loosely together. When one bird leaves a tree, the others follow, not in a big rush but leisurely peeling off, one by one. If there happens to be a predator, such as a Cooper’s Hawk, nearby, they pull out another distinct cry, louder but no less enchanting, a murmuration and confirmation as if they are saying, “Yes! We see you!”. Another interesting feature is that you can tell the males from the females, as the females have lovely yellow eyes. I don’t like that guidebooks call these little birds “drab”; their personality is more than colorful enough!

Hawk Handling

Hawks Aloft in New Mexico holds monthly Raptor Handling Class. Volunteers that are interested in helping out at educational event booths learn to work with hawks and other birds of prey on jesses. We bring the easier birds to handle. Note that easier doesn’t always mean small! Aztec, the Great Horned Owl pictured here with Keith, is rock solid, and allows pretty much anyone to hold her.                                         

But there are always participants who are TERRIFIED, no matter what! Such as one young man who held Aztec. He was so tense that she picked up on it, and the owl that patiently stood for a dozen people opened her wings and “danced” up his arm. He thought he was going to get gangrene from a tiny scrape she left on his skin! I told him to call us if his arm fell off.

All of the Educational Ambassador birds are rescues from the wild, and are non-releasable for various reasons.                      For example, Quemado the Red-tailed Hawk has a broken wing.

I’m including some artistic shots from home. Can you find the horse in the clouds? And I don’t mind sharing garden veggies with nibblers as pretty as this swallowtail butterfly caterpillar.