Leucistic birds are very interesting. There was a leucistic goldfinch on my feeder a few years ago. They are just kind of washed out looking.

So many cool birds! Sonny is very pretty. He looks so soft!

Can confirm about Red-tailed Hawks being massive. We get one in the yard occasionally, usually eating a squirrel. Which is cool and gross at the same time.

Haha, exactly what I was thinking!

The for real life Hammerbarn!

Poor thing. 9 days is a long time. I don’t even like to spend 15 minutes in those places.

It’s pretty crazy to think they could cut a hole in the tree with a chainsaw and not disturb the owls.

This was a good read. It makes me wonder how much of these documentaries are staged. They often have beautiful cinematography, but probably the animals would be better off without humans in their remote habitats. I suppose they do help bring in conservation dollars, like he said, but at what cost? Perhaps some of the conservation would not be needed if we weren’t traipsing through animals’ homes to make a movie!

Also, that’s a great shot of the Barred Owl at the end of the article! Just the kind of lucky circumstances that makes photography fun.

I’m really enjoying these articles you’ve posted lately. I like cool owl pics, too, but it’s nice to have a bit of discussion beyond “I love that shot!”

I love this shot. ❤️

This was an interesting read. I never really thought about all the considerations that go into building a nest box. How sad that things meant to help owls are basically turning into ovens and killing them. Hopefully the alterations will help.

Yes, the article title is unfortunate. I have changed the post title.

Thanks for breaking this down. I was in a rush when I posted the article this morning. I thought it was a good one and wanted to share.

I like your thought of the owls hybridizing and Spotted Owls living on that way. It’s not ideal, but none of the options are. I just wonder if the hybrids are able to reproduce? I seem to recall hearing that some animal hybrids are sterile, but maybe I’m misremembering.

I also think that since this was set in motion by humans changing owl habitat so long ago (early 1900s!) that we can’t really know all the impacts that the Barred Owls have had on their new homes. You can’t really untangle it. And killing that large of a population is sure to have repercussions on other aspects of the environment than just saving Spotted Owls. We also can’t know if Barred Owls would have expanded their range without human intervention, and if they had then they are just a more successful species than Spotted Owls and it is just survival of the fittest. That is hard to be ok with, but it is how nature works.

Anyway, lots to think about in this article. But also some great pictures.

Such beautiful coloring!

He was the biggest sweetie really. Just did not like other cats in his yard.

Haha, it was more to keep him from attacking my other cat and give her a chance to escape. He would get irrationally angry when he saw other cats out the window and take it out on her. 😕

Taxidermied animals always kinda creep me out. Some of these are very unfortunate looking. (My poor saw-whets.) That GHO diorama looks pretty nice though.

Thanks for sharing. It’s interesting that they can close off parts of the hallway to make the room smaller and smaller. It seems like it would be very tricky to catch them! The towel thing also works on cats that are agitated.

Sounds like a fun experience. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures!

Very cool. He looks tiny in that second pic!

❤️ These are great shots. So weird to see. We have oaks that look like that, but the only way there’d be a cockatoo in one is if someone’s pet escaped. It must be so cool to see a whole flock. (In the US)

I never thought about this! So interesting to think of owls contributing to the fossil record (ish) through pellets.

This would be really nice. ❤️

I loved reading about Flaco this past year. There were so many great pictures of an owl in the big city. 🦉 🌃

Aw, one of each. ❤️