owls
Posted by carly zeis on May 19, 2006
Q: i have another question.
my nieghbor has a few corn plants she grows and recently put up a plastic owl to keep the other birds away. well, it seems a real owl has taken a likeing to the plastic one. now won't leave it alone. it roosts on top of her shed each night and hoots at it and trys to get its attention. The owl is brown, with black spots, and it's of a medium-mediumlarge size.
can you tell me what kind of owl it is, and why its doing this?
Habitat: suburban/yard
State: Ohio
Habitat: suburban/yard
A: I have a pretty good idea of what is going on here. Your owl may be a Screech Owl since these are fairly common in Ohio and are medium-sized owls, but I can't be sure.
Like many different birds, your owl is territorial and is doing its best to scare/discourage that other "owl" away from its space. The hooting that an owl makes can both attract a female to its territory but also serves to warn other owls (same species) away - kind of like saying "this is my place, stay away!" Hope this answers your mystery.
John Wiessinger ( May 19, 2006)