Screech Owl vs Sharp-shinned Hawk
I'm still chillin' in Winona. The wireless situation is iffy here but I'm using a friend's computer. The following just came in through email. Thanks, Andy, for sending this my way! Do watch the video at the bottom, at first it's hard to make out the owl, but you'll see it soon. I once saw a screech owl with a blue jay and a friend told me about a barred owl that took out a Cooper's hawk, but I've never heard of a screech taking on a sharpie!
I just got the e-mail below from my father, who lives in west Michigan
and keeps tabs on the birding listservs there. He doesn't send me
this sort of thing very often, and this one is extraordinary. This is
video taken immediately following the strike of a Sharp-shinned hawk
by a Screech Owl. That seems like huge prey for a Screech, but there
it is on film.
If you're looking for some material for your site, feel free to post
this. I don't know the e-mailer referred to, so you may want to
contact them to see if they mind having their e-mail posted on your
web site, or you could just edit that out. Up to you. This post was
from the Mich-Chat listserv, so you might be able to just google it
and find it independently.
Stay warm in Minnesota! And watch out for those abominable Screech Owls. ;-)
Andy Pedler
I just got the e-mail below from my father, who lives in west Michigan
and keeps tabs on the birding listservs there. He doesn't send me
this sort of thing very often, and this one is extraordinary. This is
video taken immediately following the strike of a Sharp-shinned hawk
by a Screech Owl. That seems like huge prey for a Screech, but there
it is on film.
If you're looking for some material for your site, feel free to post
this. I don't know the e-mailer referred to, so you may want to
contact them to see if they mind having their e-mail posted on your
web site, or you could just edit that out. Up to you. This post was
from the Mich-Chat listserv, so you might be able to just google it
and find it independently.
Stay warm in Minnesota! And watch out for those abominable Screech Owls. ;-)
Andy Pedler











10 Comments:
Wow, that's one bad-a$$ little owl.
"Stay warm in Minnesota"! ?
Is that a promise?
I am going there next week and dreading the cold already (it was 15 degrees celsius today where I live).
You're in Winona? I live in Winona! Awesome. I hope you enjoy yourself while you're here. :o)
Wow! Go owls!
Need some help with an ID on some not really great pictures. Would like to send them to you for a little help. Think they may be a Krider's Red-tailed Hawk. My e-mail is rdp481@frontiernet.net
Holy. Crap.
Yay for small feisty owls.
I never would've guessed he'd grab a hawk for dinner--just goes to show you, those cute little fluffy things can pack quite a wallop!
I used to see one quite often outside our woods--now not for 3 years. :-(
Adding to the discussion...here was a clip from a follow-up discussion on the same listserv. Quoting Steve Santer:
"From what I've read, Screech Owls weigh about 7 oz and Sharp-shinned Hawks weigh from about 3.5 - 7 oz. Further, Screech Owls have been known to take birds the size of Ruffed Grouse!! A small male sharpie at 3.5 oz would be a good size for a prey item as long as it could get it from the back and avoid being "footed" by the hawk! It still sounds like risky business to me for a Screech Owl to take on a bird with the weapons a sharpie has."
Okay, I'm no longer terrified of the little Screech Owl that knocks off Sharpies. Now I'm having nightmares about the ones that hit Ruffed Grouse!
Andy - Newark, CA
Yikes with screech owls living in my backyard maybe I should stay indoors!
(and watch them on webcams instead)
Bob
squirrelhouse.com
has owl webcams, incubation in progress
Live in woods...feed birds...saw a sharpie swoop on a songbird yesterday...pounce and fly....over in seconds
Have had screech owls come around..talk about a blood curdling call..those babies are well named...
Love all those birds..favorite might be little Carolina Wren...in your face attitude & sweet song..and of course that Pavorati of the woods..the thrush
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