The York Land Trust > Year of the Owl

Barred Owl

Barred owls are the most common owl in York. They are often active at dusk, calling and hunting in edge habitats, which makes them visible to the careful observer. Their large eyes are filled with hundreds more rod cells (a photoreceptor cell in eyes that sense light) than the human eye, allowing them to see very well in low light.

Classic "who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all" hoot phrasing.

Pair caterwauling.

__________

Great Horned Owl

Great horned owls are common to York woodlands. They are the earliest breeders of the year, starting in January and February. The "ears" sticking up from the top of their heads are only feather tufts - their real ears are hidden along the edge of their disc-shaped face. The disc acts like a radar dish, funneling sound towards the hidden ears.

Territorial hooting duet.

__________

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl

Long-eared owls are rarely seen, although they are not uncommon. They need very dense stands of pine to nest and perch in, and will locate themselves deep into the heart of it. For this reason, they are susceptible to deforestation and forest fragmentation where such loss of trees greatly reduces their habiat.

Male advertising song.
Used to attract a mate and to announce terriroty. Also an alarm call.

__________

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

Snowy owls are sometimes seen in Maine during the winter when they venture south from their Canadian nesting grounds. When they do turn up, they often are seen hunting and perching along the open stretches of runway at airports - a location that most closely replicates their tundra habitat.

Male territorial hoot.
Females rarely hoot.

2008 is The Year of the Owl

In honor of the many owls that inhabit York Land Trust properties, we are celebrating the Year of the Owl! Owls require large expanses of unfragmented habitat to hunt and breed successfully. The work of the York Land Trust and other conservation organizations to place land in permanent protection helps owls by keeping these unfragmented expanses free from development. Owls are just one example of the wildlife that benefits from our work.

There are a variety of owls found in Maine, and in York County, and we have highlighted some of them on this page. Listen to examples of their calls and become more familiar with the noises you may hear if you are exploring land trust properties at dusk or in the evening.

Keep an eye on this page for upcoming announcements, outings, Owl Treks, and other activities offered in celebration of the Year of the Owl.

Whoo Hooooooo!

Enable javascript and refresh page to view owl facts and listen to owl calls.

Spring Owl Trek: Nighttime Owl Calling
March or April, to be announced.

The first of YLT's four seasonal Owl Treks will take place late at night in March or April, as part of a larger monitoring project coordinated by Maine Audubon Society.

Every winter, volunteer owl monitors venture into the night with an audio recording of owl calls and a map of stops along a roadside route. At each stop, a recording is played into the night air of owl calls. The calls move from the smallest owl, the Northern saw-whet, to the largest, the Great horned owl.

They move through the species in this order so that the sounds of larger owls don't scare away the smaller owls who may be listening. The calls are played with long pauses in between, giving volunteers time to record any real owls that answer back or come in for a closer look.

So for one night a year, information is gathered all over the state as part of Maine Audubon Society's Maine Owl Monitoring Program (MOMP).

This year, the York Land Trust is putting together a special route that uses land trust properties to move the survey away from the roadside deep into protected habitat.

The hope is that by offering land trust lands as survey locations, we can help provide new data on the status of owls in York.

Anyone interested in participating in the survey should know that we will be out in the middle of winter between the hours of 1-4am playing tape recordings in the woods! If that sounds like an interesting venture to you, please contact the Trust for more information.

__________

All About Owls

For a great article on owls, follow this link to the February 8th issue of The Nature of York featured in The York Independent. This collaborative column is written by the York Land Trust and the Center for Wildlife and features details about Maine's owls, owl adaptations and what you can do to help owls.

The Nature of York: Our Resident Owls Are On the Prowl.

__________

Owls of the World

There are more than 220 species of owls in the world. Most of them have descriptive names like Ochre-bellied hawk owl and Fearful owl that show their variety in size, markings and behavior.

Boobook owls are named after the trees they prefer to shelter in throughout Australia.
The Barred jungle owlet is a tiny owl from northeastern India, covered with bands of white and grey.
The Elf owl is found in the desert areas of southwestern United States, is very small with quick movements, and is called “enano” in Mexico (which means dwarf or pygmy).
Spectacled owls are local to Costa Rica and the Amazon, and have bold, glasses-shaped, yellow and white facial markings.

And that’s just of few of their colorful names and locations in the world.

__________

History of Owls and Owl Folklore

Humans have long been fascinated with owls. There are owls in Egyptian hieroglyphics and owls in cave paintings in France that date back 15,000 to 20,000 years. The presence of owls in folklore from around the world suggests the intrigue created by owls in many cultures.

An Algerian superstition says that if you place the right eye of an owl in a woman’s hand while she is sleeping, she will tell you her secrets.
Aboriginal legend says that a bat is the soul of a man, while an owl is the soul of a woman.
French superstition claims that if a woman hears an owl call while she is pregnant, then the child will be a girl.
In Samoa, ancients believed that humans are descended from owls.
In Russia, hunters traditionally carried owl claws with them so that if they were killed their souls could climb up to heaven.

__________

More Great Owl Information

The Center for Wildlife rescues and rehabilitates injured owls. Visit their website to find out more: www.yorkcenterforwildlife.org

White Pine Programs offers wildlife tracking and nature programs to youth and adults. Visit their website to find out more: www.whitepineprograms.org

Maine Audubon Society studies owls in Maine. Visit their website to find out more: www.maineaudubon.org

York County Audubon Society offers bird outings and participates in the Maine Owl Survey. Visit their website to find out more: www.yorkcountyaudubon.org

Owl Pages is a website full of owl information and lots of great photos. Visit their website to find out more: www.owlpages.com

Share Your Owl Sightings

Have you had a close encounter with an owl this winter? If so, we are interested in sharing your experience with the community through our website. To post your story and photographs, email them to the York Land Trust and visit our sightings page for new photos and stories!

__________

Eastern Screech Owl

Screech owls are at the northern most part of their range in southern Maine. They are a small owl and eat primarily insects and small rodents. They show two different color phases, some are red, like the photo above, and some are gray. Either phase provides excellent camouflage as this owl blends perfectly into the patterns of tree bark.

Descending trill during territorial defense.

__________

Saw-whet Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl

The Nothern saw-whet owl is the smallest owl in York County. Measuring a tiny 7 inches from head to tail, it weighs merely 3.5 ounces. That is about the same weight as a single-serving tuna can! Saw-whets roost in dense forests of pine and hemlock, preferring a low branch. Like other owls, it enhances its camouflage by staying motionless during the day. This is a migratory owl, and some winters bring record numbers into the northeast. They easily fall prey to larger raptors, and severe winter storms that prevent successful hunting.

Advertising song..

Food deliveries at the nest.

__________

Great Gray Owl

The great gray owl is an occasional visitor to Maine, if it roams south of it's Canadian breeding grounds. This "Phantom of the North" is the largest owl in North America, measuring up to 33 inches long with an average wingspan of five feet. Imagine it flying silently in the nighttime forest! Even at that size, it still weighs less than three pounds.They fly close to the ground, 20 feet or lower. Great grays commonly take over the old nests of northern goshawks, as they share the same habitat.

Male territorial hoot.
Usually made to establish territory, promote pair formation and in nest-showing.

Female distraction call.
Made to feign injury or make a distraction display near the nest.

__________