Mike et al. In case you didn't get a straight answer, it's yes and no and maybe. In Cape May we saw numbers increase in the fall into areas not known to hold Barn Owls during the summer.
Here's the BNA account on migration: Migration Nature Of Migration In The Species Extent of migration in this species remains unresolved. No evidence of migration established in most studies of marked individuals conducted in North America and Europe (Schneider 1937<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib108>, Bunn et al. 1982<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib017>, Mikkola 1983<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib089>, Marti 1999<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib206>). Species remains resident in winter even at northern limits of breeding range in the western Palearctic and no clear directional movement trends have been documented in Europe (Snow and Perrins 1998<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib265>). Adults are sedentary year-round in n. Utah (Marti 1988a<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib079> ). However reports of migratory movement in some regions of northern U.S.; e.g., significant fall numbers in s. New Jersey (Stewart 1952<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib119>, Duffy and Kerlinger 1992<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib030>) and historically in Ohio, where species was evident at migrant traps along Lake Erie and where shot in large numbers in fall in some years (Peterjohn 1989<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib237> ). Two Barn Owls banded in s. Texas, one as a nestling and the other as a non-breeding adult, were recovered in Mexico (Bolen 1978<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib010>). Two females banded as breeders in Colorado were recovered 700 km south (Millsap and Millsap 1987<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib090>). Immatures commonly disperse in all directions from the natal site (Marti 1999<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib206>); these movements of up to 1,900 km (Soucy 1980<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib117>) may be mistaken for migration. Timing And Routes Of Migration Autumn migration late Sep to mid Nov at Cape May, NJ, with immatures later than adults (Duffy and Kerlinger 1992<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib030>). In Ohio, spring migrants appear Mar 15 Apr 15 (Peterjohn 1989<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib237> ). Migratory Behavior At Cape May, NJ, in fall, most Barn Owls thought to be migrating were observed flying at altitudes >10 m; disproportionately more owls were counted with light northerly winds (<3 m/s) than under other wind conditions (Russell et al. 1991<http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.bnaproxy.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/001/articles/species/001/biblio/bib251> ). cheers David ________________________ David A. La Puma Postdoctoral Associate Aeroecology Program Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology University of Delaware Visiting Scientist SILVIS Lab (http://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/) University of Wisconsin, Madison Teaching/Research Profile: http://www.woodcreeper.com/teaching Websites: http://www.woodcreeper.com http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:24 PM, Andy Martin <[email protected]> wrote: > Mike, > > Found this link ( > http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v104n02/p0312-p0320.pdf) on web some > years back after I recorded a Barn Owl NFC early December over my house in > Gaithersburg, MD. Not sure how applicable it is to your locale in TX. I > have probably picked up 4-5 Barn Owls in as many years. Either in the late > Nov-early Dec time period or March. Never Sep-Oct or Apr-May. I presume > they are migrants as I don't live in very favorable habitat (very suburban) > for Barn Owls. There are however a few remnant silos near me that are kept > in more of a decorative than functional state. Guess they could host an owl > but doubtful. > > Hope this helps. > > Andy Martin > Gaithersburg, MD > > > On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Mike Farmer <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I’ve been getting these at 3 of our stations here in Texas. I just >> chalked it up to resident birds but last night I got 2 over the house in >> the city. I have never heard them here. It’s very possible, of course, >> that it’s just a non-migrant. But you would think that I would get them >> regularly if so. But they are always just sporadic one-offs. >> >> And while we are at it.....is this an Upland Sandpiper? I get a lot of >> these and I just want to make sure I have it right. >> >> BTW, it was a return to 200+ calls last night here in Austin....just as >> woodcreeper.com site might suggest for last night. >> >> -Mike Farmer >> -- >> *NFC-L List Info:* >> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> >> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and >> Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> *Archives:* >> The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> >> *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> >> !* >> -- >> > > -- > *NFC-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > !* > -- > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
