I have recently been contacted by a few people in r
Dear Ohio Birders,
I have recently been contacted by a few people in regards to the Barn Owl nest that I recently reported on the listserve. I regret reporting the nest and did not and will not disclose the exact location of the nest because Barn Owl is a sensitive, state endangered species that should not be disturbed at the nest. The bird that we saw on the recent bird-a-thon is very skittish and left the nest upon our approach. We quickly noted that it was a Barn Owl and then retreated for these reasons so as not to disturb the owls. Disclosure of the specific nest site is strictly forbidden and would be detrimental to the owls. The welfare of the birds must be the first priority, over the desire to get Barn Owl as a lifebird. There are other situations where Barn Owls can sometimes be seen, away from a nest, such as a winter roost. They have occasionally been seen at Killdeer Plains in winter. I minimize my Barn Owl viewing to just once a year, and that is during the
bird-a-thon each May. Similar discussions have involved disturbance of Long-eared Owl winter roosts. (BTW, I average 6-7 years between visits to known Long-eared Owl winter roosts). While not a state endangered species, it is still subject to disturbance from human encroachment into winter roosts, and many Long-eared Owls have purposefully gone unreported (or location is generalized) so as to minimize disturbance to the birds.
So, please, if you have seen my report, please respectfully think about the welfare of these rare birds and don't ask me to disclose directions to the nest tree.
Best regards,
David
David A. Brinkman, M.Ed.
1631 Kellywood Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45238-4011
______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
|
