An interesting thing I learned about owls

[my5hens]

Good evening!
Tonight I learned something very interesting about owls. I took my 7 yr old to a sort of hokie dokie halloween night time thing at a local botanical garden, and well there were some semi - tamed owls there with the people that owned them.
The man with the horned owl said owls dont actually eat other birds, including chickens. But they simply get sick of them and dont want them in their territory. They will even put up with other birds in their area for sometime until one night.......kill!
Oh and they can only eat things that they can swallow whole.

I know this doesnt solve the problem of them killing hens, but I still found it interesting!

 

[zazouse]

Really???
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/owlp/ghowl/document_view

 

[omegaman]

In person I have seen them kill and eat wild ducks, chickens, wood cock and wild turkeys.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Well, I have never heard such a fallacy. Owls can and do enjoy chicken when its on the menu, and they will eat it all...bones and feathers as well. They particularly enjoy taking them out of trees while they are roosting...more convenient I guess.

 

[janinepeters]

The man with the horned owl said owls dont actually eat other birds, including chickens. But they simply get sick of them and dont want them in their territory. They will even put up with other birds in their area for sometime until one night.......kill!
Oh and they can only eat things that they can swallow whole.

Unfortunately you were fed nonsense. It's well documented that owls prey on birds and other animals they cannot swallow whole. Perhaps it is most common for them to feed on small animals they can swallow whole, which is why so many great horned owl pellets contain entire mouse or vole skeletons. I suspect that's why he believes what he told you. Such pellets are easy to find if you know where to look, and could give the impression that small mammals are all that owls eat.

 

[sourland]

Good evening!
Tonight I learned something very interesting about owls. I took my 7 yr old to a sort of hokie dokie halloween night time thing at a local botanical garden, and well there were some semi - tamed owls there with the people that owned them.
The man with the horned owl said owls dont actually eat other birds, including chickens. But they simply get sick of them and dont want them in their territory. They will even put up with other birds in their area for sometime until one night.......kill!
Oh and they can only eat things that they can swallow whole.

I know this doesnt solve the problem of them killing hens, but I still found it interesting!

Wow! Absolute misinformation as others have said.

 

[ellie32526]

I know this is probaby a dumb question, but does it help at all to buy one of those plastic owls from Home Depot to ward off other owls? Or am I just being duped as well? I see them all over my neighborhood, mostly in gardens - but I haven't bought one yet.

 

[TXchickmum]

-bought one to keep birds from the garden. It did help keep the Mockingbirds away from the strawberry plants, BUT I wouldn't rely on it at all to keep away predators (hawks owls).

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I had a cat that liked to lay on a ledge outside the window, maybe fifty feet up...that made a difference...but then, she moved from time to time. The siloulette may help some, but they get used to it.