Tis the season to be cleaning out bird boxes - and putting more up if you have them. I've already got several pairs of Bluebirds inspecting boxes and usually end up with 3-4 pairs each year. Anyways, while checking on a Wood Duck box I found this Screech Owl sleeping comfortably. I'd like to hope it's sitting on eggs, but wouldn't it be roosting with it's partner if that was the case?
Sidenote: I'm working on updating the butterfly list for Norfolk. Species most likely to occur here but not yet found include West Virginia White and Mulberry Wing. Consider these target species should anybody reading this find themselves in Norfolk! You could become famous ;)
Hey Adam, nice find! My dad found one roosting in their Wood Duck box last year although it didn't nest there, unfortunately. I did some work with Western Screech Owls last summer and I was told (and saw) that during the day, the female incubates the eggs and the male sits a some distance away facing the nest (so if you can find the male during the day you can usually determine the direction to the nest). I know Western and Eastern Screech Owls are different species, but they might have similar habits?
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura. Thanks for the info on the nesting westerns. I have no idea if Eastern's have similar habits but I'll keep my eyes open. So far I've only seen one but I'll have to check the box in the future to see if there's any young ones.
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