Nature Notes: Owl Prowling
By Dan Scheiman, PhD, Staff Ornithologist/Visitor Engagement Specialist
We’ve heard from some of our readers regarding concerns about the use of playback for calling owls. First, we want to thank our community for this feedback. We appreciate that you read our posts and blogs and care enough to contact us and express your concern. Second, we want to clarify the use of playback in calling in owls. We use playback for educational purposes during events such as our Night Hikes and Owl Prowl. We take precautions to make sure we are not negatively impacting our local birds and being respectful of their surroundings when calls are played. This includes ensuring we are not in a highly owl-populated area and that we are not near the sites of nesting owls. We also stop playing calls immediately if we hear an owl calling. Lastly, we always educate on the potential stress that playing owl calls can cause to local populations. We understand the concern with playback and the stress that it can put on owls and other birds. We believe playback should be used very sparsely and rarely, and only in situations where it can have an educational benefit and not in the vicinity of a known nest. We understand that people do use playback and want to educate the public on how to do so ethically. We are incredibly lucky to have an ornithologist on Ridges staff who can instruct us on the safety of playback and when it is appropriate to use. If you’re unsure of whether it is appropriate to use playback, please do not use it as a tool. Instead, you can learn owl calls before you go owl prowling and see what owls you hear by chance while you’re out in the forest!
I recently read Jonathan Slaght’s Owls of the Eastern Ice, about his time in the remote Russian Far East studying the world’s largest owl, Blakiston’s Fish-Owl. It’s as much about the climate and culture of the region as the birds. As with many high-latitude owl species, breeding begins in winter. To understand fish-owl nesting needs, the author endured months of winter conditions that even many of us North Woods aficionados would find challenging. It’s a testament to the endurance of owls as well.
February is when owls are vocalizing regularly to attract mates, maintain pair bonds, and defend territories. It’s a good time to try to detect these secretive, largely nocturnal predators. While I hope you don’t have to endure subzero temperatures and deep snow to do it, you should expect to spend time out in the cold.
Playback is an effective tool that can be used during owl prowling. Playback is playing a bird’s vocalization to elicit a response. A field guide phone app may contain the calls. Imitating a bird’s call with your voice also works if you have that ability. When using playback, always make sure to do so in a way that minimizes disturbing the bird. If a species doesn’t respond after a few calls, move on to a different species. If a bird does respond, stop playing the calls immediately. When using playback, you are making a bird respond to a rival that doesn’t exist, and is not there, which elevates its stress levels. Playback should be used sparsely and rarely. It can become especially problematic in heavily birded areas and close to nests. I use playback when owl prowling and leading walks, and always educate about the stress it causes. If owl prowling on your own, do it at night and start with the smaller owls, then go up in size. Larger owls are predators of smaller owls, so playing a Great Horned Owl call first will likely keep any Eastern Screech-Owls within earshot silent. However, learning owl calls before you depart and letting wildlife present itself to you is a safe and responsible practice!
Pictured left to right: snowy owl, eastern screech owl, and barn owl
Owls can also be found during the day through persistence and luck. Snowy Owls actively hunt during daylight, so look for a white lump on a snowy field, landfast ice, beach, farm field, utility pole, or rooftop. Other owls roost during the day in a tree cavity or dense vegetative cover. Other birds can help you locate an owl. If you see crows, jays, or chickadees making a fuss around a particular spot they may be mobbing an owl or other predator. Birds of prey use the element of surprise, so when discovered, it behooves their prey to raise the alarm and get in their face, forcing them to move on. Another trick is to look for owl pellets on the ground and whitewash on the lower branches of trees, signs an owl is or was roosting above. Owls eat their prey whole, later coughing up a pellet of undigestible bones, fur, and feathers. Whitewash is excrement, which is white and liquid in owls. Lastly, look for owls by poking your head into cedars, spruces, and other densely vegetated trees. Groves of trees adjacent to clearings are good places to check. After searching many haystacks you might find the needle, a camouflaged owl resting against the trunk at eye level or above. Take a quick look, then walk away to minimize disturbance.
You can also try bringing owls to you by offering a nest box. A box about twice the size of a bluebird box is suitable for Eastern Screech-Owls and Northern Saw-whet Owls. Barred Owls nest in a significantly larger box. A Barn Owl box should have a ledge on the outside for the fledglings. Where you place the box depends on the species you hope to attract. It is important to not disturb the pair during nesting. Clean the box at the end of the season.
While there are no guarantees you’ll see an owl in the wild if you do brave the cold, I can guarantee you’ll see owls up close during The Ridges’ Owl-O-Rama. On February 28, an owl talk will be followed by an owl prowl. On March 1, activities include building a screech-owl nest box and meeting feathered friends from Open Door Bird Sanctuary in the Nature Center.
Owl-O-Rama
Friday, February 28, 6:00 pm-8:30 pm
Join a Ridges Naturalist at The Ridges Nature Center to learn about owl species that call Door County home. Then, head down out on a local trail to hear them calling to one another!
Meets at the Cook-Albert Fuller Nature Center, must have vehicle to drive to Prowl location.
Fee: Public $15 | Member $12 | 16 & under $7; Pre-registration is required. Please note: At capacity; registrations no longer accepted.
Head over to The Ridges Workshop to build Eastern Screech-Owl nest boxes to take home and hang in your backyard. A Ridges staff member will provide you with all the materials you need to assemble your nest box.
Please note: The nest box building portion of the workshop will include hammering and the use of power tools in an indoor space.
Fee: Public $50 | Member $45; Pre-registration is required.
Open Door Bird Sanctuary Meet and Greet
Stop by The Ridges Nature Center for a fun, family-friendly experience with live birds of prey from Open Door Bird Sanctuary! This free event offers an opportunity to see owls up close and talk with ODBS staff who will be stationed throughout the Nature Center. Ask questions, learn interesting facts about each bird, and discover the unique adaptations that make owls such remarkable creatures. Don’t miss this chance to connect with these amazing raptors!
Fee: Free. Donations appreciated!