Folks,
The following is posted with permission from Mark Cranford. Renfrew County is located along the Ottawa River north of Ottawa and south of Algonquin Park. Jeremy -----Original Message----- From: Inglis, Jeremy (MNR) Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 2:50 PM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: Barred owl mortalities Hi Mark, I thought I would go through you to see if the following was an appropriate posting for Ontbirds. I work for the Pembroke District Ministry of Natural Resources which takes in all of Renfrew County. For about the last 3 weeks we have been receiving ever increasing reports of diurnal barred owl activity at bird feeders where the owls are attempting to catch voles, red squirrels and even ruffed grouse throughout daylight hours. Since last week we have received 4 dead (non-roadkilled) barred owls at our office. Two were found incidentally in forested areas and 2 have been found in close proximity to bird feeders. All appear to be quite emaciated suggesting that there is a lack of small mammals (or at least access to small mammals). There is still quite a crust on our snow (enough to support the weight of a deer) so I imagine that owls, and other predators, are having trouble accessing prey. Just to be sure, we will be sending some owls to Guelph for necropsy but I imagine the diagnosis will be starvation. I'm not sure if there are any data on barred owl weights but I have been attempting to collect a weight on dead owls whenever possible, as follows: 1) BARR: Found below bird feeder Feb 15'05: 545.7 gm. 2) BARR: Found below bird feeder Mar 3 '05: 498.8 gm. 3) BARR: Incidental in forested area Mar 5 '05: 450 gm. 4) BARR: Incidental in forested area Mar 6 '05: 385.2 gm. The following are road-kills for comparison. 5) BARR: Road-kill Feb 28 '05: 687.5 gm. 6) BARR: Road-kill Feb 28 '05: 554.9 gm. I just received another report of a dead owl at a bird feeder and I will collect data on it as well. All of the above are distributed throughout the county. Presumably, barred owls are not as nomadic as this year's Great Grays and do not follow prey as the GGO's have done. Interestingly, although we have had some Great grays this winter in agricultural areas closer to the Ottawa River, most appeared to have moved south to the Ottawa area, where conditions and prey are presumably more favourable. With the onset of the breeding season, barred owls are probably even more inclined to remain within territories anyway. Just thought I would pass this along in case a similar phenomenon is occurring elsewhere. If there are declines in this years owl surveys, this type of mortality might be considered. Thank you, Jeremy Jeremy Inglis Fish and Wildlife Technical Specialist Ministry of Natural Resources Pembroke District 31 Riverside Drive Pembroke, ON K8A 8R6 Tel. 613-732-5590 Fax. 613-732-2972 Email. [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
