Category: ethical birding

How to Watch an Owl

by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, ethical birding

great horned owl 2

A lot of people, both birders and non-birders, are fascinated by owls. I personally don’t get more excited by owls than any other group of birds, but some folks just lose all ethics and common sense when they come within close proximity of an owl. As I have often said, owls make people stupid.

Much of the worst birder behavior I have witnessed has been around owls. When people get too close, the results can range from simply annoying the animal to putting the bird at serious risk. So, I would like to offer a guide to enjoying these birds is such a way that keeps everyone involved safe from stress and harm.

Ethical owling is achieved by starting with two clear premises:

  1. Owls don’t like you.

To most species of wildlife, humans are perceived as a clear and present danger. Despite being predators themselves, owls are preyed upon by other species. The best defense employed by many owls is camouflage and just staying hidden during the day. If a large predator, like you, approaches an owl, the bird may become stressed, even to the point of flushing from their hidden perch. This in turn puts the owl at increased risk of being attacked by another predator.

  1. If an owl is looking right at you, you are changing that bird’s behavior, which may be putting the bird at risk.

That owl could have been sleeping, watching for potential prey, or preening. Your presence is preventing all of those natural behaviors. By observing and interpreting an owl’s behavior, you can effectively judge your potential impact on the bird and adjust your actions accordingly.

Smaller species of owls rely on their camouflage to keep them safe, and may remain completely still if you approach. So just because the bird is not flying away, it doesn’t mean that you are not causing stress. With larger species, you may be interfering with hunting activities or alerting other animals to the owl’s location.

If an owl is paying any attention to you, you are too close. When you encounter an owl, even if the bird does not seem affected by you, enjoy them briefly from a respectful distance and then move on.

A longer version of this post, complete with photos of various owl behaviors, is available on my Patreon Account.

Happy Autumn

Ankeny NWR

by John Rakestraw, posted in ethical birding, OR Birding Sites

I made a quick trip to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Salem. Like the other refuges in the Willamette Valley, most of Ankeny is closed in winter to protect wintering waterfowl. But there are spots on the refuge open to birders year-round. Here is a male Ruddy Duck just starting to get a little color in his bill for spring.

Song Sparrow at the edge of Pintail Marsh

This Lincoln’s Sparrow popped up for just a second, but long enough for me to take his portrait.

Here is a very distant Eurasian Green-winged Teal, or Common Teal, or Eurasian Teal, depending on who you talk to. In Europe, this is considered a separate species, but in the U.S., it is considered a subspecies of Green-winged Teal. I have been hoping for many years that North American authorities would recognize this form as a species (so I could add another tick to my list), but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen.

This pair of Great Horned Owls was hanging out along the trail to the Rail Trail boardwalk, once again proving that my camera would much rather focus on branches than on birds.

The main reason for my visit was a communal roost of Long-eared Owls discovered a few days before. This species is usually very hard to find in western Oregon, and had been a state nemesis bird for me.

There has been a lot of concern expressed about birders disturbing this group of birds. In Kansas and Ohio, where I have seen Long-eared Owls before, visiting winter roosts is the only way for birders to see this species. I believe it can be done without stressing the birds if birders speak softly (or not at all), maintain a respectful distance, and keep their visits brief. That is pretty easy to do at this site. Birders are confined to a boardwalk (assuming they are not assholes), and it is easy to make a quiet approach. If everyone exhibits just a modicum of self-control and common courtesy, this could be a sustainable birding experience for weeks to come. Fingers crossed.

Happy Winter