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Wildlife Update

April 22, 2009 by Jeanne

Back in New York City, my friends complain that garbage trucks wake them up at 5:30 a.m.. serenading them with urban songs in the alleys between the apartment buildings.

This morning at the same time, I was awakened again by our resident owl. He’s been around a lot this spring. He wakes me up around 5 a.m. If I hear him while I’m walking Shadow, it’s usually very early – just before dawn.

I love owls and used to visit a bird sanctuary at a state park on Long Island, stopping by the owl cages to say hello. So I had to find out more about our friend in Prospect.

I found a great website that helps you identify owls by their call. It’s called Owl Calls & Sounds. I had a vague idea of some species that might live on the east coast of America, so I clicked on a few names until I found him.

He’s a Great Horned Owl.

Way cool.

Here’s what I found out about the Great Horned Owl:

  • They are one of the most widely distributed owl species in North America (that means they are common)
  • They are about 18-21 inches long
  • They like deciduous and conifer trees (good news: maybe they like my pine forest)
  • They hunt at night and eat rabbits, rats, squirrels, mice, moles, bats and weasels. If they’re hungry enough they will eat porcupines and skunks!

So now I know who my morning guest is. But since we share very different taste in food, I’m not inviting him in for breakfast!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. keewee

    April 22, 2009 at

    Great horned owls are awesome birds. We had two in the yard last year,and the other birds were making such a racket, in their attempt to make known that there was danger lurking in their territory.

  2. Daffodil Planter

    April 22, 2009 at

    You’re a country girl now! Aren’t you glad you’re so much bigger than the owl?

  3. Janet

    April 25, 2009 at

    Check out our little owl post. He is a Great Horned Owl. http://thequeenofseaford.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-are-you-looking-at.html

  4. Jeanne

    April 25, 2009 at

    Thanks for the owl tips! I sure do feel like a country girl now, although the neighbors continue to call me “that Yankee gal who talks funny” (New York City accent, think Fran Drescher from the Nanny)

    Jeanne

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