Our - she says proprietorially - Little Owls are very noisy atm. What I'm
trying to figure out is why? Surely this can't be a breeding season for
them but there's an awful lot of hollering backwards and forwards going on.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the 'x' to email me)

Sacha wrote:

Our - she says proprietorially - Little Owls are very noisy atm. What I'm
trying to figure out is why? Surely this can't be a breeding season for
them but there's an awful lot of hollering backwards and forwards going on.

Not sure about Little Owls but with Tawny Owls, autumn is when they are
most vocal. I think that it is adults chasing the summer's youngsters
out of their territories, probably in response to increasing scarecity
of food?

Perhaps the same's happening with Little Owls?
--
Larry Stoter

In article , Sacha
writes
Our - she says proprietorially - Little Owls are very noisy atm. What I'm
trying to figure out is why? Surely this can't be a breeding season for
them but there's an awful lot of hollering backwards and forwards going on.

It doesn't have to be the breeding season for birds to make a noise.
Robins and Dunnocks have been singing in my garden for some while now
and the reason is exactly the same as the Little Owls making a lot of
noise, defending a territory which they will occupy during the winter.
The territory is not for breeding but for feeding. The birds are
defending an area large enough to contain sufficient food for the
winter.

--
Malcolm Ogilvie

"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...

In article , Sacha
writes
Our - she says proprietorially - Little Owls are very noisy atm. What
I'm
trying to figure out is why? Surely this can't be a breeding season for
them but there's an awful lot of hollering backwards and forwards going
on.

It doesn't have to be the breeding season for birds to make a noise.
Robins and Dunnocks have been singing in my garden for some while now
and the reason is exactly the same as the Little Owls making a lot of
noise, defending a territory which they will occupy during the winter.
The territory is not for breeding but for feeding. The birds are
defending an area large enough to contain sufficient food for the
winter.


But how do they know the area is going to be large enough? Do they seek to
defend larger or smaller areas depending on the richness of the feeding, or
do they instinctively defend as large an area as they can, regardless of the
terrain?

In article , BAC
writes

"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...

In article , Sacha
writes
Our - she says proprietorially - Little Owls are very noisy atm. What
I'm
trying to figure out is why? Surely this can't be a breeding season for
them but there's an awful lot of hollering backwards and forwards going
on.

It doesn't have to be the breeding season for birds to make a noise.
Robins and Dunnocks have been singing in my garden for some while now
and the reason is exactly the same as the Little Owls making a lot of
noise, defending a territory which they will occupy during the winter.
The territory is not for breeding but for feeding. The birds are
defending an area large enough to contain sufficient food for the
winter.


But how do they know the area is going to be large enough? Do they seek to
defend larger or smaller areas depending on the richness of the feeding, or
do they instinctively defend as large an area as they can, regardless of the
terrain?

The size of the territory will depend on the density of the food supply
and on the density of the population, i.e. other birds also trying to
defend territories all round their boundary. The actual size can vary
through the winter. If the birds have an abundant food supply, they will
spend less time defending the boundary so allowing the territory size to
shrink. If they start to run out of food, they may try and enlarge their
territory at the expense of neighbours, who however will likely be
trying to do the same. At the point when the effort of defending the
territory outweighs the advantages of doing so, they will give up and
move, or die.

--
Malcolm Ogilvie

Malcolm Ogilvie14/11/03 9:54

snip

The size of the territory will depend on the density of the food supply
and on the density of the population, i.e. other birds also trying to
defend territories all round their boundary. The actual size can vary
through the winter. If the birds have an abundant food supply, they will
spend less time defending the boundary so allowing the territory size to
shrink. If they start to run out of food, they may try and enlarge their
territory at the expense of neighbours, who however will likely be
trying to do the same. At the point when the effort of defending the
territory outweighs the advantages of doing so, they will give up and
move, or die.

Thanks to all who have replied so helpfully. This explains the amount of
activity here. There have been Little Owls here for years, so I'm imagining
that food must be pretty abundant. last year, we had a family of parents
and two chicks in our garden and as the sun set one evening, the two babies
were silhouetted in the branches of the cedar tree, yelling plaintively for
mum. She was calling back from the other wise of the valley, as if
encouraging them to join her and start hunting! It's so funny to hear them
at around 3pm, too - none of that ghostly, shadowy night bird thing about
these!
--

Sacha
(remove the 'x' to email me)

"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...

In article , BAC
writes

"Malcolm Ogilvie" wrote in message
...

In article , Sacha
writes
Our - she says proprietorially - Little Owls are very noisy atm.
What
I'm
trying to figure out is why? Surely this can't be a breeding season
for
them but there's an awful lot of hollering backwards and forwards
going
on.

It doesn't have to be the breeding season for birds to make a noise.
Robins and Dunnocks have been singing in my garden for some while now
and the reason is exactly the same as the Little Owls making a lot of
noise, defending a territory which they will occupy during the winter.
The territory is not for breeding but for feeding. The birds are
defending an area large enough to contain sufficient food for the
winter.


But how do they know the area is going to be large enough? Do they seek
to
defend larger or smaller areas depending on the richness of the feeding,
or
do they instinctively defend as large an area as they can, regardless of
the
terrain?

The size of the territory will depend on the density of the food supply
and on the density of the population, i.e. other birds also trying to
defend territories all round their boundary. The actual size can vary
through the winter. If the birds have an abundant food supply, they will
spend less time defending the boundary so allowing the territory size to
shrink. If they start to run out of food, they may try and enlarge their
territory at the expense of neighbours, who however will likely be
trying to do the same. At the point when the effort of defending the
territory outweighs the advantages of doing so, they will give up and
move, or die.


So there is no fixed size - that's what I thought, from watching robins
'interact', aggressive little characters !

This reminds me of when I was working up near Newbury, I was ploughing when
a family of Little owls emerged onto a branch straight ahead of me, I slowed
the tractor and kept going, I finally stopped only about 15 ft from them.
They didn't pay any attention to me sitting there with the engine running, I
stayed there for several minutes, then decided to turn off the engine. Bad
mistake....they took off in a matter of seconds, and I never saw them again.
Just wish I had had a camera with me, but who carries on when they are at
work.
It was the same field that used to get visited by a 1 legged Pheasant that
would hop along behind the plough quite happily.
This is where I found out the difference in feeding habits of Pigeons and
Pheasants, the pigeons take the outer leaves of the cabbage, the pheasants
eat out the heart.

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"Sacha" wrote
She was calling back from the other wise of the valley, as if
encouraging them to join her and start hunting! It's so funny to hear them
at around 3pm, too - none of that ghostly, shadowy night bird thing about
these!
--
Iirc they are diurnal birds - I certainly saw plenty of them when we were living in N. Yorks where they were more
common. Even had a close encounter like David's - in this case I was leaning with my back on a wall waiting to
catch a photo of some small birds in a hawthorn in the roadside verge when I became aware of a presence by my ear,
turned my head and was eyball to yellow eyball with this bird.

Rod

"Rod" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote
She was calling back from the other wise of the valley, as if
encouraging them to join her and start hunting! It's so funny to hear
them
at around 3pm, too - none of that ghostly, shadowy night bird thing
about
these!
--
Iirc they are diurnal birds - I certainly saw plenty of them when we were
living in N. Yorks where they were more
common. Even had a close encounter like David's - in this case I was
leaning with my back on a wall waiting to
catch a photo of some small birds in a hawthorn in the roadside verge when
I became aware of a presence by my ear,
turned my head and was eyball to yellow eyball with this bird.

They are only partially diurnal.
In Surrey, there was a group which frequently woke us at 2.00 in the night.
I once used a large parabolic sound mirror to follow and record them. If
anybody had been around at that time of the night, they would have had me
certified, running.
around in the midle of the night in pyjamas with clumsy weird-looking
electronic equipment.
Here in Wensleydale, there is a group in the vicinity, also hunting and
calling in the night, although I confess I have not yet heard them this year

Franz

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

They are only partially diurnal.
In Surrey, there was a group which frequently woke us at 2.00 in the night.
I once used a large parabolic sound mirror to follow and record them. If
anybody had been around at that time of the night, they would have had me
certified, running.
around in the midle of the night in pyjamas with clumsy weird-looking
electronic equipment.

/snip/

I use a reflex cone loudspeaker trumpet with a microphone set where the
driver would have been. It's extremely directional and concentrates
sound marvellously. Using an amplifier you can hear clearly a whispered
conversation at a hundred yards in still air.

--
Rusty Hinge
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these
words:

They are only partially diurnal.
In Surrey, there was a group which frequently woke us at 2.00 in the
night.
I once used a large parabolic sound mirror to follow and record them.
If
anybody had been around at that time of the night, they would have had
me
certified, running.
around in the midle of the night in pyjamas with clumsy weird-looking
electronic equipment.

/snip/

I use a reflex cone loudspeaker trumpet with a microphone set where the
driver would have been. It's extremely directional and concentrates
sound marvellously. Using an amplifier you can hear clearly a whispered
conversation at a hundred yards in still air.

For equal diameters, the parabolic reflector and the exponential cone would
have just about the same directionality and sensitivity for sounds with
wavelengths small compared to the diameter of the device. Whispers and most
birdsong fulfil this criterion.

Franz