An Assortment of 8 Individual Owls....
....that I’ve seen over the past two months
A group of owls is called a “Parliament”! This term originated in C.S.Lewis’s book The Chronicles of Narnia partially due to the owls’ supposed wisdom. My grouping of owls include a variety of individuals and species that I have seen over the past two months.
A pair of Great Horned Owls attempted to nest in an Aleppo Pine in my neighborhood. Nobody in the neighborhood ever saw young so we feel that the nest failed. For a while, the female Great Horned Owl would sit on a limb underneath the nest. This photo captured a great look at her brood patch on a breezy morning. The brood patch is where mother birds lose feathers on their breast due to the hormonal changes they go through. This feature allows for the mother to have direct skin-to-egg or skin-to-hatchling contact to provide warmth.
The Arizona Daily Star ran a story about a Great Horned Owl which had chosen to nest in a planter above the patio of Noble Hops, a restaurant in Oro Valley. Although the nest site appeared precarious, the little Owlets grew and survived this period in their lives, while being conversation starters for diners in the patio below them.
A friend told me about a Great Horned Owl nesting in a saguaro west of the Tucson Mountains. Great Horned Owls do not build nests but, as in this case, they use nests that large raptors had built in previous years.There were two nestlings there although I could barely see onlyone. I only visited the nest this once.
Arizona Raptor Center rescued a Western Screech Owl that had gotten caught in a snap trap. The Owl, brought in after a full day in the trap, was cared for and healed by the wonderful volunteer falconers who “are” the Arizona Raptor Center. Once this female healed, I was invited to the release where the Owl was returned to the yard it had been found in so it could rejoin its partner. After a few seconds looking around to reorient herself, the Western Screech Owl took off.
It flew directly to a safe space in the yard’s wood pile. It was apparent this Owl knew the yard well.
It looked around at the handful of observers and photographers.
Feeling in control and free again, the Screech Owl finally felt comfortable enough to close its eyes and rest. It was home again!
Elf Owls are the smallest species of Owls in the world. Less than 6 inches tall, they weigh under two ounces (not even as much as a new pencil). A friend told me about some Elf Owls she knew about outside of Tucson. One night three of us went to that desert area to listen and search for the Owls. It took a while but after dark we heard two Elf Owls calling back and forth and were able to see one of them fly into a nest cavity in a saguaro cactus.
I’ve returned two other times already to listen to and observe the Owls’ behaviors. We believe the female Elf Owl is on eggs as she no longer takes flights outside of the nest during our time with her after dark. Her vocalizations have also changed now that she is in the nest and not flying around as she was on the first night.
The male Elf Owl makes food deliveries after dark. Elf Owls come to southern Arizona every summer for breeding season. This range map tells you where Elf Owls can be found. At that web site, you can look up more information on Elf Owls.
You can learn more about Elf Owls from this Tucson Bird Alliance story. The National Audubon Society has some “fun facts” about Owls you can read here. We minimize our time with these Owls but we are very excited to be able to witness these special birds during such a special season.