I was wondering if Carol Schmitt's sighting might mean an empty box in our yard today (we live less than a mile apart), but again this evening a gray-morph EASTERN SCREECH-OWL appeared as usual just before dusk. The owl has roosted here for seventeen days in a row.
Normally, the owl perches with its head and fluffled-up body completely filling the round nest box hole, with its feet unseen on the lip of the opening. Today, as two squirrels squabbled on a branch a few feet away, the owl maintained its perch on the lip, but leaned backward so that its face was an inch or two behind the hole. I don't know why the owl didn't just drop back into the box as it usually does when there's any commotion nearby. The owl's posture must have been something like that of a woodpecker on a vertical trunk; presumably the owl's tarsi, knees, and/or tail were braced on the inner front wall of the box. Mark Chao -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
