Here are some responses I received to the barred owl eating worms question. Interesting stuff. I will pass on additional comments if I receive more.
Gail Wieberdink ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maybe they are feeding them to their young? Although the owlets should be old enough by now to eat larger prey... it's just a guess. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I took ornithology from Al Grewe at St. Cloud, he mentioned the extent to which adults teach their offspring to feed, and the variation which ensued as a result. A sort of primitive culture. One individual figures it out, and passes it to the others. The example he gave was broad winged hawks feeding on frogs. Not normal, but some do. I spent quite a bit of time a few years ago photographing robins from a blind. The thing that struck me as strange, was the extent to which the birds treated night crawlers as though they were dangerous. Pulling them from the ground, attaching, and then retreating. Only to repeat the process. To the best of my knowledge, the earthworms we have are all European, and the robins are in fact treating them as though they are snakes, which they also feed on. A little off topic, but it shows the extent to which feeding behavior isn't always genetic. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
