Timber owls... a danger in daylight?!?

[mmaddie's mom]

Everyone in by 4:30... not happily, but Oh Well.

Have my flashlight ... hoping they will come back so I can at least positively i.d. them.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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Yup, it's a Barred Owl. The original Hoot Owl. "Hoot Whooo Whoo" very common all over the US. We have several in the woods around here. Taking my Katie dog on a walk at night we alway try to hear where they are coming from.

For the OP, you may want to tell your husband to stop shooting at them. They and all raptors are protected and he can get into serious legal trouble.

I live in the woods on the backside of Spencer Mt, NC. I have Hawks, Owls, Eagles and have never lost a chicken to anything but a neighbors dog and a feral cat! Not saying it doesn't happen, but if you chickens have plenty of cover, birds of prey won't be able to get to them. These birds need open places to set up their. I think most around here hunt is more open areas or up by the lake. Too many crows and mockingbirds to knock them out of the sky here. We have the NC Raptor Center where they treat injured raptors and then release them not 10 miles from here.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

@ coyotemagic... lol... it would have been an amazing shot if he would have hit one, since he was just shooting up into the trees to scare them away... but thanks anyway for the good info.

 

[EweSheep]

We had a barred owl smacked in the middle of the city...beautiful bird but it was watching hubby building the coop while ONE field mouse that we saw flee from our presence. So he was sitting on the power lines looking down at him.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

you guys have gotten some very cool pics!

 

[woodmort]

mmaddie's mom :

you guys have gotten some very cool pics!

Owls are usually easy if you have a camera handy, they just kind of sit there eying you, especially during the day.​

 

[Aves]

If what you see is a Barred Owl, then no worries, the barred owl's feet are WAY TOO small for a chicken, and actually the Barred only weigh 2 lbs at max...they look bigger than they are. Nocturnal raptors i.e. owls don't kill with their beak, only their feet. Barreds will take care of those pesky mice that hang aroung your coop...good to have around!!

Aves- ex-wildife rehabilitator and director of a wildlife center many moons ago.

 

[ivan3]

Couple of Barred's `off schedule'.

12/09 14:00

6/08 18:30

When they start their cachinnating (they can carry on some incredibly weird sounding conversations - particularly during breeding season) the chooks and turks take it as a sign that it is time to start moving to the coop/shed. They haven't impacted the poultry otherwise. The Barred Owl VS. the Southern Nocturnal Flying Squirrel bouts are a sight to see (put spotlights out back and watch the show).

Glad we don't have GHO's in residence.

ed:sp

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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EEEEK Looks like the eyes that pop up in the woods around, Aurthur in the original Sword in the Stone!

 

[CoyoteMagic]

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Great Horned don't weigh much more do they? We had the local raptor center come to a daycare program I work with. They brought several owls and smaller hawks that couldn't be released because of an injury. I remember something about the bones being hollow that is why they are so light.