The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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December 17, 2021
PacificNorthwest
Mr O has a daily cardio constitutional, walking briskly a mile up the road and then back in a half an hour. It’s an unfrequented but paved road, with a moderate slope. Half the distance has pasture/thickets on both sides of the road, the other half is in the woods, mostly second growth Douglas firs growing close enough together that it’s dark along there. Over the years he’s seen and heard plenty of birds along the wooded stretch, from flickers to eagles, who sometimes fly low between the trees along the road.
Each day when Mr O returns from his walk, I always ask about any observations along the way. Usually it’s, like, 3 cars and a newt. This day it was
I got attacked by an owl!
He got pictures too, sort of:
So my nature report today is secondhand. I don’t think I’d have traded places with him though, however cool it was!
Here’s his report, with my investigation following:
It was cold and windy this day so he had a knit hat on and his windbreaker hood up. In the trees on windy days like this there’s always a risk of branches coming down, so when he felt a heavy whack against the back of his head he figured that’s what it was. The force of the hit bent him double. He reached up to pull the branch off since it was still resting on his head. That’s when he felt feathers and watched the owl winging away up onto a nearby tree. It was a Barred owl.
He took a couple of pictures and then backed away down the road, keeping an eye on the owl. It lifted off and flew right at him. Mr O waved his arms and it veered away, perching again in a tree. It was still there watching him, occasionally looking the other way, until he had backed far enough down the road so it was out of sight.
Fortunately the owl’s talons just left divots in his windbreaker, didn’t break any skin. But he did have a headache for a day.
🦉
Why did the owl attack? I did some reading.
Turns out there have been quite a few reports of owl attacks in the PNW in the past five years or so. Some walkers/runners have a ponytail or a hat with a pom pom, which can be mistaken for a squirrel (though hmmmm a really huge one!). But most of the time walkers don’t and in fact if not wearing a hat, can get really nasty scratches from the talons, which grip. It’s not just a flyby, as Mr O can attest.
There are two times of year owls attack, at least in this region. In spring and summer owls will defend their nests from anyone they perceive as intruders. Defending territory is understandable, in fact a lot of birds do that. For example Mr O gets regularly divebombed by Brewers blackbirds on this same road, along the pasture/thicket stretch. But in fall and winter, there’s something else going on.
Suzanne West, executive director of the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, said two Barred owl attacks on Camano Island in September 2020 were likely by a juvenile. “He’s figuring out where he needs to live. He’s been kicked out of the nest, and he’s now got to figure out where his territory is going to be. He’s got to find his little corner of Camano.” Ruth Milner, wildlife biologist for WDFW, agreed: “it sounds like juvenile behavior, either experimenting, practicing or stressed because mom and and dad are no longer feeding them.” Milner said “Attacks are unusual. Most animals do everything they can to avoid people.” (2 reports of owl attacks on Camano Island). A report from San Juan Island in October 2020 noted the same reasons, adding juveniles “are stressed because they are no longer being fed by parents and simply taking out their frustration on people. It can take juveniles a great deal of time to develop independence.” (Aggressive owls attacking humans at San Juan Island historical park)
However this late into winter, we could be seeing the early stage of territorial breeding behavior. Owls were attacking runners in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon in December a few years ago. David Craig, a biology professor and animal behavior specialist at Willamette University, said “Now is the time of year when owls and eagles are courting and establishing their territory, which makes them aggressive. They lay eggs as early as February. The really healthy birds are starting to be territorial now.” (Owl versus jogger attacks resume in Salem)./The Washington DFW website says of winter: “During this period, adult birds may engage in belligerent behavior, such as attacking creatures many times their size.” (wdfw.wa.gov/...)
Since it’s between fall and midwinter right now, the attack on Mr O could be either. However this is the first time he’s ever had an encounter like this and he’s been walking that road daily for years. We’ve heard pairs of Barreds and Great Horned owls in the neighborhood for many years. Has something changed recently?
One factor could be the expansion of range and increase in numbers of Barred owls in the West. Barred owls are not native to the Western U.S. In fact their arrival is displacing the native Spotted owls, whose population was already plummeting due to the unrestricted clearcutting of old forests where they live. Barred owls are larger, more aggressive, more generalist in their diet, and reproduce more prolifically and nest more densely. It’s a sad situation for the Spotted owls. There’s no evidence Spotteds ever lived in the islands where we live — we never had the large areas of old forest they prefer. But the nature of Barred owls in general is to proliferate and spread if they can.
What allowed Barred owls to move here from their native range in the Eastern US?
The barred owl historically resided in the eastern United States, east of the Great Plains, which served as an impassable barrier to forest-dwellers like the barred owl. Closely related to the spotted owl, it filled the niche of a forest-dwelling owl similar to that of the spotted owl in the west. However, at some point less than 100 years ago barred owls began dispersing westward. It’s believed that this was due, at least partially, to changes in habitat caused by a cessation of Native American burning in the plains after Europeans and other foreigners arrived. Lack of fire allowed trees to grow creating habitat “bridges” across the plains that facilitated barred owl movement. Barred owls were first reported in northern British Columbia in 1949; by 1959 they had reached southern British Columbia and then quickly expanded southward into Washington (1969), Oregon (1979), and northwestern California (1985).
🦉
Barred owls are here to stay. They share the islands where we live and we’ll continue to observe them as they breed, settle themselves and disperse in the woods here as the years go by.
In spite of the prospect of getting divebombed, I like having them around. They are beautiful and mysterious. And they have the most weird and wonderful calls. I’ve been seeing one or more owls right around my house this fall, calling or napping. Not aggressive. I’ve been assuming they are one or the other of the local pair, who may be nesting so successfully they have youngsters now needing to find their own territories.
So, how can you lessen likelihood of being divebombed? From the WDFW site:
- Avoid walking at dawn or dusk, when owls are more active
- Wear a hat or helmet.
- Runners can also mark big eyes on the back of a baseball cap to stare back at the owl.
We’ve set up “eyes” on Mr O’s windbreaker hood. And he took his constitutional in the middle of the day yesterday. Mr O saw no owl on his walk, nor was he attacked. That’s the first day of the new protocol.
We’ll keep you posted about his future owl experiences.
🌬💨
Partly cloudy and cold in the PNW islands today. North wind. Temp this morning 32°. Brrrr.
WHAT’S UP IN NATURE IN YOUR AREA TODAY?