Transformer Screech Owls - Taking Camouflage to a Higher Level

Note: We were fortunate enough to make some fantastic observations and videos of unique Screech Owl behavior in our backyard during the nesting season this past May. These dynamic little owls are a lot more complex and intelligent than any literature I've read gives them credit for. This Blog will be edited with more details and analysis over time. 

                                 

     We hoped the Screech Owls were going to come back this spring after success in 2011. However, in late December 2011 the nest box was taken over by squirrels and stuffed with twigs. After cleaning it out, wood rats tried to move in, and then the squirrels started coming back - that's a story for another blog post. It was clear the location up on a 12 foot high 2x4 on our back fence in the woods wasn't going to work     - it was a jungle back there and there was no chance of a successful season with the box in that location. As a last resort, I put the nest box only about 8 feet off the ground at the gable end on an aluminum outbuilding in January, installed the nest cam and we waited. Not the best                    
location, but a safe location that no critters could get to.  
                                

     The grey male and red female could be heard, and occasionally seen, courting in early March. They were first seen inside the box on March 10th and the first egg was laid on March 13th - success! Everything went smoothly with lots of activity inside the box and frequent nighttime feeding by the male Screech Owl. The female only left the nest briefly at night - a routine had set in. 

Screech Owl Nest Box Location and usual location of the parents.

A video showing the parents on the job in the positions in the photo above

     April 18th - I walked around the back of the "shed" and came face-to-face with a big pair of yellow eyes about 6 feet off the ground right in front of me at eye level - stopped - what was that? - and then it was gone. I approached slowly and it was the male grey Screech Owl. He would not look at me, I backed off and he squinted, but didn't move. I left him alone, but came back each evening and walked slowly along the fence line looking in the dense oaks and pepper trees and found him there each day in various different positions and started to film him at a distance with a telephoto lens  He had probably been there since March waiting to start hunting and feeding as soon as it got dark, 

Male Screech Owl Hiding Near Nest box

                                    Transformer Owl Part One - The "Predator" Effect.

     Looking at the tapes from May first I saw the cloaking behavior from the male owl similar to when we first met, although not as extreme as I saw that first night. He was apparently reacting to me watering the plants and moving closer with the hose as the video ran on a tripod. This is shape-shifting at its best. He never really "warmed" up to us over two months  and never once faced us with both eyes fully open. 

Male Easter Grey Screech Owl - before and after 

                                                

Video of Transformation

Transformer Owl Part Two - Extreme Danger

     The red female Screech Owl moved out of the nest box for the most part on May 2nd as it was getting hot and crowded in there. She set up her post to guard the nest in a Palmetto Tree near and above the nest where she could come to the rescue during the day if needed. She did an amazing job of finding spots with red color that she could blend in with. But she was in the open in the daytime - a very dangerous position for her. Here she spots a large Red Shouldered Hawk on the house rooftop - she is at 12 feet and looking up - the reaction here is fierce and immediate. In the daytime the big hawk could have her for lunch in a heartbeat  The Hawks rule the daytime skies - the Owls the night!

Extreme Rapid Transformation - Danger!

Extreme Rapid Transformation - Danger!

Red Shouldered Hawks in the backyard use the same perches in the daytime that the owls use at night!

Transformer Owl Part Three - Mild Danger - Amazing Slow Transform

     The red female had found the perfect spot to sit in the daytime on the cut end of an old reddish brown Palmetto Branch next to another red/brown branch. Here a large Raccoon rummaging around in the daytime is scared and runs through a pile of old wood and brush and climbs the fence right below the owl. She is initially on high alert by the noise and then assess the situation and slowly transforms into a branch as the Raccoon walks by on the fence just below. Since the Raccoon was so close a slow but complete transform seemed to be her choice to avoid attracting attention.

On Center Stage - The Great Transformer Screech Owl

Transformer Screech Owl - Before and After

Screech Owls are not safe in trees with these guys around.

Transformer Owl Part Four - Minor Threat

Later the same Raccoon is walking along the fence below the red female and you can see by her reaction she is on guard and does a slight transformer move as she does not sense significant danger - but she  is  watchful and ready.

Not Too Worried

                                     
                                           Transformer Owl Part Five - Meh - You are not worthy!

     Here I'm coming to get the camera after running 14 minutes of video and as I come around the shed into view the female is initially mildly concerned, but when she sees it's me she give a rather indifferent expression and goes back to relaxing. Their situational awareness and ability to parse threats and respond to many different scenarios is amazing!

Screech Owl not particular interested in humans!

  

Owlbert Just Hanging Out

Video from May  6 in the late afternoon five days before fledging. Its hot and crowded in the nest box and the owlets are taking a nap. The mother has been  spending her time outside the nest box for several days now. The ever curious and resourceful Owlbert,  the second eldest has found a unique way to get some space and stay a bit cooler by hanging upside down from the perching bar over the other two owlets . A bat imitation - Brilliant!

Owl Photography and Videography - Price drop on Canon SX40 HS

I wouldn't normally resort to this kind of shameless commercial plug, but the price just dropped significantly on the camera I use. This is a good deal on a great point-and-shoot Canon SX40 bridge camera. I paid significantly more for mine from Amazon and it took all the pictures and HD videos you will see on this page. Its perfect if you are thinking about getting more involved in photographing or filming birds and wildlife as a hobby without going all-in on a professional outfit you'll be reluctant to damage or lug around the wilds. At the price point of $339 its a deal! Do your research.  If it goes back up in price wait it out.
 This post goes into more detail. I will never recommend a product I don't own, use, and enjoy! Another benefit of Canon point and shoots is that there is a whole community of developers making enhancements to the software to make them do all the things you want like HDR, RAW and time lapse and motion detection photography. Its called CHDK and its amazing. More on this software enhancement in a future post.

Example of Screech Owl Taken With Canon SX40 HS (note:resolution is reduced so it can be uploaded to web)

                       

Return of Baby Owl Eye Pops Out - Peekaboo Owl

The character, personality and talent of the Screech Owl never ceases to amaze as we go through the videos from the 2012 season. Thanks to the kind folks at Cute Overload  for bringing attention to the original  Baby Owl Eye Pops Out  video. For your viewing entertainment is the second episode of the middle owlet, a male grey eastern Screech Owl, trying to fit his head  through the nest box hole occupied by his older sister - A red morph eastern Screech Owl. Here he has figured out that he can more easily get out at the bottom of the nest hole under his sisters chin. The third owlet was considerably slower on the learner curve than these two and was in the bottom of the nest box kicking the wood chips around at this time - I'll have to upload some video of that some day. This means that the slower smaller third owl will also not get the first food delivered to the box in the evening. These videos are a bit later than the first  Baby Owl Eye Pops Out episode and they are expecting to be fed soon. Whoever dominates the nest entrance gets the most food!

The environmental awareness and natural curiosity of the middle owl was on display from the early days in the nest box. We'll upload other videos in the coming weeks showing this fellow in action. Cute Overload called him Owlbert and I like that - he seems a bit of a free spirit and probably a bit of trouble - Owlbert!! what are you up to now?

Night Noises - Screech Owl Calls Around the Campfire

The sounds of late summer night around the campfire. Screech Owls are typically scarcely seen and pretty much silent since leaving the nesting site in May. They tend to begin to make some noise again in late summer. Dark - the realm of the Screech Owl. It's starting to get a little nicer out at night now and fall is coming - get outside and enjoy a fire and the noises of the night! 

Owlet Swallows a Whole Lizard

As I continue to go over the video from this seasons nest box camera I come up with jewels like this. The largest owlet was barely a week old on April 17th when it attempted to swallow an entire lizard that the parents dropped into the nest box. By this time both parents would immediately start hunting after dark dropping large amounts of food, mostly lizards, into the nest box. There intent is to come back shortly and tear up the lizards for the owlets, but one couldn't wait even though it could barely see. There seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of lizards this spring partly due no doubt to the fact that it was a very warm winter. It also speaks to the lack of pesticides in the backyard - I know that's a hard call for some, but Palmetto Bugs and Mole Crickets and such along with lizards make up a large portion of their diet at nesting time. Note that the mother Screech Owl comes to the rescue of the little guy near the end to help him with the lizard. 

The Power of a Perch - Nest Box Experiences Part 3

You can enhance the chances of attracting Screech Owls to your nest box  by using bird feeding stations in your yard that make good perches for the owls and other creatures.  We use two Gardman USA Wild Bird Feeding Kits that are very good as a bird feeding station and absolutely outstanding as sturdy perches. The only weakness is the pole that comes with the kit is in 4 sections and its not particularly strong or long-lasting, but we use 7ft pieces of copper plumbing pipe that makes the total kit quite strong and attractive. Its the hardware that comes with the kit that is the best part. It has held up quite well. Its sometimes hard to find this exact  kit but for now its still available through Amazon. Gardman makes another slightly different Deluxe feeding station that is  probably just as good.

We had a serious problem with squirrels climbing all over the feeders, but found the Woodlink 18" Squirrel Baffle did the trick in stopping them from ruining bird watching. The YouTube video below is a test we did a few months ago. This type of baffle could also be used to keep squirrels out of your Screech Owl box is it was on a sturdy galvanized metal pole. You may be able to find one for use on 4x4 wood posts, but if it doesn't swivel like this one the squirrels may well defeat it.

                                                              

These are the exact products used in the video above. We don't link unless we own and use it!!

Flyways to perch and nestbox

The second Gardman unit is used as a perch just for the owl box and creates a safe flyway pattern between heavy brush cover and the nest box,  making the box more attractive to the owls as well as serving as a great hunting perch at night. It is very common to see them sitting there and catching large bugs and lizards in the backyard grass which is pesticide free. It is also where they would meet during mating season and was no doubt a plus in selling the "house" to the female screech owl. Its all about neighborhood, neighborhood neighborhood.

Red Shouldered Hawk

Of course the twin perches will be generally attractive to all birds. Its always a rush to see a majestic Red-Shouldered Hawk stop by and perch in the yard.  Occasionally they will take out a Dove sitting on the perch or a snake from the yard. Hawks by day and owls by night!

Dragonfly

The perch is often used as a hunting perch in the daytime by insects such as large wasps and dragonflies. In this picture you can see the owl box in the distance in the lower right. Dragonflies eat an amazing amount of insects alleviating the need for heavy pesticide use.

Dragonfly

Dragonflies use the highest tip for a daytime hunting perch. Perches will attract more birds and are especially attractive to Screech Owls.

It's a Jungle Out There! Nest Box Experiences and Advice Part #2

Screech Owls in our suburban neighborhood have a tough life that typically goes unseen by humans. Their biggest challenge is to find a good nesting site each winter - habitat loss of old growth trees and dead trees most likely to have suitable nesting cavities is a big factor in Screech Owl decline in some areas. But finding a suitable nesting cavity is just the start of a perilous journey to reproduce. There is competition and danger! A nesting cavity in a tree is easily accessible by a wide variety of other creatures.The following pictures were taken in our backyard in the past year. These first five want to eat the eggs and/or owlets:

Florida Corn or Red Rat Snake

Invasive Monitor Lizard

Red Shouldered Hawk 

Rats in the Nest Box!!

Raccoons

Rats also want the nest box for themselves, these are not big-city rats. They live in trees, especially Palmetto Trees and waterways everywhere - you just never see them at night. They suffer about a 90% mortality rate each year and they desperately want a place to hide in the daytime and an unoccupied nestbox is perfect. They can displace the owls or eat the eggs or small owlets in an unguarded moment - not to mention they make a mess of the box when they move in. The irony is that the beautiful and docile constrictor the Red "Rat" snake is often killed by homeowners when seen - think about that if you don't like rats - this 4-5 foot rat snake looks very well-fed. Large predatory lizards and Raccoons like to hang out in trees, and I haven't include pictures of cats either feral or pets without bells on their collars. Big hawks like this Red-Shouldered variety hang out in the same trees and the smaller Kestrels compete for the same nesting sites - and at night the great horned owl is a threat to eat its smaller brethren.

Then there are the Africanized Bees and Wasps - and the most dreaded of all - the squirrels - they want the nest box. 

Important tip - If you make your own nest box - don't make it out of white pine from the home store - insects love it - makes great bee hives as bees need a place to live to! Either buy a good cedar wood nest box or make your own nest box out of cedar. Cedar contains a natural insect repellent and looks great as it ages. I have never seen bugs in our Stovall Owl box in two years that weren't brought in by the owls. "Wood Screech Owl Nest Box" (Google Affiliate Ad)

The Dreaded Squirrel

Homemade Pine Nest Box - Africanized Bees Love it!

All things considered one wonders how many Screech Owls are unsuccessful at claiming and defended one of the scarce natural sites. Many owls probably end up using less than desirable nesting sites.  However, there is more to it than just putting out a nest box. One of the biggest challenges is properly locating ones nest box - each site is somewhat unique - there is no set answer. Perfect is not usually attainable, but good enough often is.  More on the challenges we faced, including dealing with squirrels, the arch nemesis of owl nest boxing in Part #3.

When Other Birds Are Still...The Screech Owl Takes Up The Strain

This signature line from this blog is from the lead sentence of an extended meditation on the sounds of Screech Owls in Thoreau's Walden.. Thoreau's take on the Screech Owl's calls was decidedly melancholy. He spent a lot of time in the woods with them, but he didn't have the advantage of cameras and microphones inside the nest box! I've been remiss in presenting at least a few samples of the vocalizations of the Screech Owl parents. They produce an amazing diversity of calls with a wide range of nuance. Far from being melancholy - Two quick samples:  

This is a recording from March 12th of the male Screech Owl attracting the female to our (his) nest box that he has claimed and defended.  He does a great horse imitation in addition to the traditional strong "trilling" - who could resist. The first egg was laid the next night.

Mrs. Screech Owl was in an unusually vocal mood on April 23rd - the 3 baby owlets can be heard weakly chirping. They were still quite small and being shielded by the mother. She went on for quite a time this night, perhaps imprinting her calls on the baby owlets.

Owl Photography and Videography in Your Backyard: Part #1

It will take quite awhile to go through all the digital photo and video documentation of the 2012 Screech Owls. Thought I'd share some cute owl videos for now. Backyard birding and photographing and videoing them go hand in hand. Having taken up photography again as a hobby after many years the owls make the perfect subject. Owls are unique in that they are quite evocative and you get to know them as individuals and realize they are each unique.  I've found that since my last serious foray into photography technology has evolved to where "point and shoots" and "bridge" cameras can rival much more expensive cameras and dedicated video equipment. This video was shot with a Canon SX40 HS 12MP 35X Optical Zoom Digital Camera superzoom bridge camera which is about the size of an SLR, but has an all in one 24-840mm lens. This is an amazing camera if your expectations are realistic and you understand the limitations of auto focus and stabilization. Price is around $400.

Shorter Version

A little more drama in the extended cut!

Red morph and grey owlets - two obviously distinct personalities!

These HD videos were taken on May 8th before dusk at the full zoom 840mm setting. If you try and get too close to the nest box they get nervous and retreat or act unnatural - at a reasonable distance they find you fascinating to observe - always an ego boost, and act more natural. This requires zoom power. The area in the video is roughly 6 inches by 8 inches - in the original 1920x1080 it looks amazing on a large HD TV. This video is reduced in size for uploading to the web. However, you must use a solid tripod to get these kind of results. I'm impressed with the low-light capability of this camera and the sound quality from two microphones on the front to provide stereo audio. The bird calling in the distance is very clear.  My point and shoot Cannon SX230HS that most of the photos and video documentation was taken with is almost as good, but the zoom only goes to 14X, or about 400mm.  Cannon has just come out with the SX260HS with 20x zoom capability at about the same price point. 

Many people complain that the pictures taken with these super-zoom cameras are not as clear as expected - the reality is that no amount of image stabilization or auto-focusing is going to completely overcome handshake and hunting for a subject at high zoom levels. More on amateur photo/video in your backyard in future blogs.