Fellow Birders,



Officially, the moon tonight (February 9th) will be considered "full".
There's debate about whether moon phase influences calling frequency for
owls but it may factor in at some level (moon phase is definitely correlated
with calling frequency in certain nightjar species).  This coupled with the
recent warming temperatures may create great conditions that will encourage
owls to start calling more frequently.  If you're hearing owls calling right
now, the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II would love to hear about your
observations.  If you're not already participating in the Ohio Breeding Bird
Atlas, please contact us off list by email/phone (contact info below) and
give us details about your observations (species, exact location, date) and
we'll include your records in the Atlas database.



If you don't have the time to venture out into your blocks tonight or in
nights to come, you may want to consider simply listening from your
properties.  Great Horned Owls are certainly "urban" birds.  Barred Owls can
also acclimate to urban settings.  Neighborhoods with older trees and nearby
wooded areas could easily attract nesting Great Horned Owls.  Look and
listen for Barred Owls with forested areas near riparian zones.



What owls should we be focusing our attention on right now?



1.  Great Horned Owl - we're already receiving reports of female Great
Horneds incubating on nests.  This species is actively calling right now and
may be more difficult to detect as the season progresses (safe dates started
February 1st).



2.  Barred Owl - we're now in active safe dates for Barred Owls too (started
on February 1st).  We have received at least one report of a Barred Owl
investigating a nesting box. [aggressive to call playback]



3.  Eastern Screech-Owl - safe dates don't begin until April 1st but
screech-owls could be advertising territories/nest cavities right now.
Their trills heard during this time of year can be coded with the 'T1'
breeding evidence code. [aggressive to call playback]  An excerpt from the
Birds of North America states:



"The Monotonic Trill is a pair and family-contact song, variously called
Bounce, Tremolo, Secondary Song, Warble. It is mostly on a single pitch, 3-6
s long, but may rise or fall slightly at the end. Male trills when
advertising nest site, courting, and arriving at nest with food; female
trills to induce fledging... Monotonic Trills are most frequent early in
nesting (nest-cavity advertisement) and again around fledging (pair-family
contact)."



4.  Rare owl species:  If you are hearing Northern Saw-whet or Long-eared
Owls calling in an apparently territorial manner, please take note of this
and let us know where you're hearing these birds.



Regardless of whether you detect any owls, please record and submit any
survey effort you invest in trying to detect nocturnal species.



Good birding!





Aaron Boone

Project Coordinator

Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II

(614) 247-6458

[log in to unmask]

www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/




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