Embedded Files
Eastern Screech-Owl
Megascops asioEastern Screech-Owl
The sight of a “whole gang” of cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, titmice and white-breasted nuthatches “mobbing a tree” in Durand Eastman Park on 29 November 1995 immediately suggested the presence of an owl. This birder walked by, scanning the branches, but saw nothing. As he continued down the road, the mobbing resumed. Looking back, the birder noticed a hole in the side of the willow, and he returned for a closer inspection. A little grey morph screech owl was “scrunched up inside, eyes open, occasionally blinking at the commotion. It was fun to watch the titmice and nuthatches come right up and alight on the bark next to the opening to scold this fellow.” (Marcotte diary entry) “I have often observed him perched within the entrance of some jagged hollow with his ear tufts raggedly elevated and his eyelids drawn obliquely together, apparently watching the progress of events as the day wore by,” Eaton (1914) wrote. “If approached too closely he seemed to melt away so gradually that no motion was evident.” (Eaton II: 121) This common small owl of parks, cemeteries, orchards and woodlots is often tricked into revealing its presence by playing a tape of its whinnying or tremolo calls. Background
This species occupies the broadest ecological niche of any owl east of the Rocky Mountains, and has the most varied diet and most distinct plumage differences (rufous and gray morphs) of any owl in North America. “Because it readily habituates to people . . . it is often the most common or only avian predator in wooded suburban and urban habitats,” notes Frederick R. Gehlbach in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. It can survive in increasingly fragmented woodlots as long as it can find a suitable cavity tree or nest box. One study found that a rural population varied 2.6 times more in size than a suburban population, which was more stable and had higher fledgling success. “Long-term negative human impacts on this species as a whole are doubtful,” Gehlbach contends. (BNA 165: 1-2, 4, 16-17)
Local history
Eaton (1914) considered this “our commonest owl,” averaging 1-3 pairs per square mile. “I have found it nesting within the limits of New York City, Rochester, Buffalo, Geneva and Canandaigua.” He listed this as a common resident in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties. (Eaton II: 121, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated single birds were the norm, with a maximum count of three.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 115 times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester, trailing only Great Horned Owl (134) among the owls. It was found fairly consistently throughout the year, most often one or two birds at a time. (KB 5:69: 4A-4B)In 1953, Tanghe listed it as a common breeder in our area, and mentioned the Burroughs Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Highland Park as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)Bull (1974) said there was some evidence that these owls were much less numerous than 20 years before, and cited increased road kills at night, pesticide spraying of fruit trees, and systematic pruning of orchard and shade trees, which eliminated the cavities these birds use for nesting and roosting. (Bull, p. 329) Loss of farmland, and reforestation may also have a taken a toll, since this owl prefers smaller woodlots and open areas, Stephen Eaton noted, and it may also be driven out of areas where Great Horned Owls increase. (Andrle, p. 202)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a common permanent resident. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this fairly common permanent resident.
Occurrence This and Great Horned are the two owls most likely to be encountered in urban and suburban areas in our region.
Breeding status: Our region had among the heaviest concentrations of blocks with evidence of breeding during both BBA projects.
Maxima: 25-30, mostly immatures, on 13-16 June 1983 (Jensen, Levy) flying around at dusk in Highland Park. (KB 33: 267) 43 on 26 December 1976 (R. Clark, Listman, Shea, Perrigo, Symonds) at Conesus Lake. (LG, January 1977) 68 on 27 December 1998 during the Little Lakes CBC (LG, February 1999) with 50 of them around Honeoye Lake. (KB49: 146) 60 on 30 December 2000 Little Lakes CBC. (KB51: 611) 65 on 18 December 2005 the Rochester CBC in 2005 – and Robert Spahn, count compiler, believes that may have been only the tip of the iceberg, since owling was not done in all parts of the circle. (LG, February 2006) 20 on 31 January 1999 (Kimball) Nations Road area. (LG, March 1999) 11 on 20 February 2005 Nation’s Road. (KB 55: 172)
Misc.
One little reddish screech owl took up residence in Andy Sperr’s mailbox in Greece in spring 1989. “Its abode was discovered by the mailman. The owl was the talk of the neighborhood for most of the day,” Frank Dobson reported. Frank Nicoletti carefully removed the owl, banded it and released it in nearby evergreens. (Birds, 9 April 1989)The Lawrence Kastners of Stottle Road, Chili also learned how adaptable these little owls can be when they went to take down a Christmas wreath hanging above their garage doors in January 1981. To Mrs. Kastner’s astonishment, there was a little grey owl perched in the middle of it. “At first, I thought maybe someone was playing a joke on me and had stuck a fake or stuffed owl in the wreath” she told John Brown, “but then I saw it move its head.” Of course, no more thought was given to removing the wreath. “They didn’t disturb the owl, which sat there the rest of the day, oblivious to snow removal and snowmobile activity around the front of the garage.” In fact it used the wreath as a perch for several more days. When Brown dropped for a look, he realized why “it might have been overlooked for some time. It was drawn up into a typical imitation of a dead tree stub with eyes squinted closed. The ribbon ends from a large red bow at the top of the wreath flapped around its ear tufts whenever a breeze stirred. Apparently, it’s an ideal perch, protected from the west wind and also from larger predators and bothersome blue jays.” (BA, 22 January, 12 February 1981)This is primarily a nocturnal hunter. However, one was feeding in broad daylight in Neil and Laura Moons’ Irondequoit yard on 16 January 1977. The owl was at the base of a hemlock with a bird in its claws. When it flew off, Neil went out in the snow and 5-degree temperature to investigate and found a gray-phase Screech Owl with a freshly caught Starling in its claws. “The Screech Owl had difficulty in flying from perch to perch hanging onto the floppy Starling.” The Moons speculated the bird was “unusually hungry” because of the long cold spell. There had been more than 25 days with temperatures constantly below freezing, and snow cover the whole time. (GOS, February 1977)
Great Horned Owl
Bubo virginianusGreat Horned Owl
On 7 May 2003, a Pittsford resident called the sheriff’s department to report a young owl on the ground being harassed by crows. The subsequent chain of events speaks volumes about how attitudes have changed toward this magnificent predator, which was once shot with regularity even by state game wardens. The town’s animal control officer secured the young owlet, and took it to Fairport Animal Hospital. Mike Tetlow was called to identify the Great Horned Owl, which still lacked flight feathers. While hospital staff fed the owl, Tetlow returned to the Pittsford neighborhood where a homeowner kindly let him on her property to search for the nest. “Mom and a sibling were found in a larch tree on the adjacent Locust Hill Country Club property,” Tetlow reported. (LG, June 2003) Rick Slattery of grounds maintenance at the club immediately offered his help, and gave the name of the tree service that had repaired damage from a recent ice storm. Erik Matzky of High Falls Tree Service volunteered to climb 40 feet up the larch to place the owlet, now back from the animal hospital, in the nest. “Though mom gave several warning calls, Erik successfully placed the bird on a nearby branch. At last check by Rick the bird was still growing strong.”Compare that story to one 70 years earlier, when “Old Hoot,” the “killer owl which ruled the woods in the vicinity of Westfall Road and Clinton Avenue South,” was finally “Potted by Boy Hunter.” According to a story in the Democrat and Chronicle, the owl for three years had been taking chickens, pheasants and squirrels “from his secret den in the woods on the Edmund’s Farm.” It met its demise at the hands of 17-year-old Christ Powers, who rode his bicycle out to the woods one Sunday morning with his single shot .22 rifle, then hurried toward a flock of crows noisily chasing something.“The wind was rustling the leaves and making a lot of noise and the crows were so busy fighting ‘Old Hoot’ they did not see me coming,” Christ told reporters. The owl was in the top of a bare tree, so distracted by the crows that the youngster was able to get off three shots and thereby “avenged the many depredations of the rapacious big raider.” (“Rapacious Talons of ‘Old Hoot’ To Snatch No More Fat Pullets,” D&C, 6 November 1933)
Background
“Equally at home in desert, grassland, suburban and forest habitats, north to the tree line,” the Great Horned Owl “has the most extensive range, the widest prey base, and the most variable nesting sites of any American owl,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It is a year-round resident over virtually all of North America, extending into Mexico, Central and South America. It hunts from perches, primarily at night, swiveling its head 180 degrees to detect prey, flying silently on soft feathers to pounce on it, using its powerful talons to sever the spinal cord of prey even larger than itself, then using its hooked beak to tear meat from bones. Breeding pairs do not build their own nest, but use abandoned nests of other birds of prey, primarily Red-tailed Hawks. Females are able to maintain their eggs at incubating temperatures near 37 degrees C even when surrounding temperatures are more than 70 degrees colder. Populations considered “robust” and “not in need of management.” (BNA 372: 1, 14, 21)
Local history
“My early recollections of the ‘sugar bush,’ where I was occasionally permitted to watch the boiling sap throughout the moonlight nights of early March, are inseparably associated with the wonderful vocal performances of the Great horned owl, answered and reechoed between the hills, until they seemed at times to pervade the air completely,” Eaton wrote nostalgically in 1914. There is, indeed, a magical quality to the sonorous “who, who-who, who, who” call of this large owl. That did not prevent Eaton from denouncing the “disastrous raids” of this “feathered pirate” on chicken roosts and game birds. “The growing scarcity of hollow trees suitably situated for nesting sites and the almost absolute certainty of the destruction of broods reared in open nests, everywhere except in the wildest districts, has been an important factor in the gradual decline of this species in New York, and the eager warfare of sportsmen and farmers has completed the extirpation of all nesting pairs in the thickly settled districts.” He listed this as an uncommon resident in Monroe County, fairly common in Livingston and also occurring in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts, II: 123-125) Indeed, R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, said this species was not even reported by Rochester birders some years, and never more than one or two birds at a time – probably because it was shot with regularity, even by state game wardens, or was captured for zoos. (WBR, 13 January 1948) At least as late as 1956 fox hunters in Ontario County “killed five of these big owls, placing them in the same category as the foxes as game destroyers,” John Brown noted. (BA, 2 February 1956) So it is small wonder that a nest found in Durand-Eastman Park was considered one of the “Ten Significant Moments of 1947” by the editors of the Goshawk. (GOS, January/February 1948)By the early 1950s, sightings were becoming more frequent. In fact, when Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the most frequently encountered owl, with 134 sightings within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 4A-4B)In 1953, Tanghe listed this as an uncommon breeder species in our area, listing Ballantyne Road and Durand-Eastman Park as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953) With protection, it is now a fairly common to common resident of lake plain and Genesee Valley woodlots and parks. One even showed up in June 1985 on Gary and Jan Quinn’s windowsill, just around the corner from the busy Main and Goodman streets business district downtown. “It spent the whole day there, unmindful of curious onlookers, people snapping pictures . . .or even dishes rattling in the kitchen sink, only twenty inches away,” Frank Dobson reported. (Birds, 30 June 1985)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a common permanent resident. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a fairly common permanent resident.
Occurrence
“The Red-tailed Hawk is replaced as top avian predator at dusk by this species,” notes Fox in The Birds of Livingston County. (Fox, p. 56)
Breeding status: Nesting activity may start in late January, Bull noted, making this “one of our earliest, if not the earliest, species to breed in the state.” (Bull, p. 330)A pair was reported on a nest 5-24 February 1966 (Kemnitzer) in Webster. (GOS, April 1966) A possible “record early date of fledgling” was reported in Brighton on 14 March 1987 when a young bird was seen on a branch perhaps 40 feet away from the nest. (LG, April 1987) The first BBA project found confirmed or probable breeding through most of the region, but especially along the lake plain. The second project found just the opposite: Less evidence of breeding along the lake plain, more to the south, especially in Livingston County. Whether this represents a real shift in this species’ breeding presence is open to conjecture, since BBA data depends heavily on observers’ willingness to do “owling” at odd hours.
Maxima: 20 on 17 September 1966 (Listman, mob) Wayne County. (KB 17:31) 20 on 23 December 1979 (mob) Conesus Lake. (LG, January 1980) 30 on 16 December 1984, Rochester CBC. (LG, February 1985) 41 on 30 December 1984, Little Lakes CBC. (LG, February 1985) Misc.
One flew into a volley ball net on Whiting Road in Webster in July 1973 with such force it knocked down one of the poles and became entangled in the net. Jerry Czech, who extricated and banded the bird before releasing it, described it as an adult male with a “very rusty face . . . the bird smelled very strongly of skunk, suggesting a recent kill.” (BA, 26 July 1973)This wary bird is often harassed by crows, who seem to relish making life miserable for any owl they find, often sitting in trees in a rough semicircle above and to the sides of a perched owl, cawing and diving at it. This birder recorded one such skirmish in Badgerow Park on 8 May 1989. “The crows always stay slightly above it, cawing incessantly, often swooping down within a few feet . . . and eventually force it to fly directly across the creek in front of me. A crow is in hot pursuit, diving down and literally pecking at the owl’s back as it flies. It lands in a tree on the east side of the creek, the crow perched a few feet above. Then it doubles back across in front of me to the west and out of sight.“A man and his dog soon go up the path in that direction, and here comes the owl again, swooping to the east side of the creek, crow again in pursuit. This time it flies farther back into the woods, and now is mobbed by even more crows. The cawing reaches a higher pitch, and a lone crow, perhaps the one that chased it over, comes winging back, apparently well satisfied with its work.”Eventually the other crows, now joined by a Blue Jay, chased the owl north of the parkway. “This lasted at least 40 minutes. Poor owl!” (Marcotte diary entry)
One flew into a volley ball net on Whiting Road in Webster in July 1973 with such force it knocked down one of the poles and became entangled in the net. Jerry Czech, who extricated and banded the bird before releasing it, described it as an adult male with a “very rusty face . . . the bird smelled very strongly of skunk, suggesting a recent kill.” (BA, 26 July 1973)This wary bird is often harassed by crows, who seem to relish making life miserable for any owl they find, often sitting in trees in a rough semicircle above and to the sides of a perched owl, cawing and diving at it. This birder recorded one such skirmish in Badgerow Park on 8 May 1989. “The crows always stay slightly above it, cawing incessantly, often swooping down within a few feet . . . and eventually force it to fly directly across the creek in front of me. A crow is in hot pursuit, diving down and literally pecking at the owl’s back as it flies. It lands in a tree on the east side of the creek, the crow perched a few feet above. Then it doubles back across in front of me to the west and out of sight.“A man and his dog soon go up the path in that direction, and here comes the owl again, swooping to the east side of the creek, crow again in pursuit. This time it flies farther back into the woods, and now is mobbed by even more crows. The cawing reaches a higher pitch, and a lone crow, perhaps the one that chased it over, comes winging back, apparently well satisfied with its work.”Eventually the other crows, now joined by a Blue Jay, chased the owl north of the parkway. “This lasted at least 40 minutes. Poor owl!” (Marcotte diary entry)
Snowy Owl
Bubo scandiacusSnowy Owl
The winds of winter had worked their magic on the Charlotte pier, hurling waves and spray that had frozen into “curious ice sculptures in many tones of white and gray,” Frank Dobson noted in January 1984. “A hundred yards from shore, one lump looked grayer than the surrounding frigid mass. As the distant image sharpened in the telescope, gleaming yellow eyes stared back.” It was a Snowy Owl, occupying a favorite hunting ground along the open waters and beaches of the lakeshore. “The only movement of this two-foot tall mound of feathers was a constantly swiveling head, often so quick as to give the illusion of a complete turn.” (Birds, 22 January 1984) As John Brown noted, “These big and handsome birds are always the focus of wide attention when they move into civilized areas. Denizens of the frozen north, they often appear to be very tame because of their lack of experience with man.” (BA, 24 December 1970)Many people seeing one for the first time are often surprised that most of the snowies that visit our area are immatures or females, with lots of dark barring. Pure white males are the least likely to be encountered. The appearance of these darker birds can be startling. In December 1977 Jerry Czech noticed “what appeared to be a patch of snow” in an apple tree, but closer inspection revealed this was the white face of an unusually dark-plumaged Snowy,” Brown reported. “The white disappeared when the owl turned its head away.” (BA, 14 December 1977)
Background
These owls are circumpolar, nesting on windswept hummocks and boulders in the arctic barrens of Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, Alaska and Canada, and producing up to a dozen young per nest where its main prey, lemmings, are abundant. It is a nomadic species. Traditional thinking was that lemming populations crashed along a broad front following a four-year peak, causing these owls to move south. However, recent studies challenge this, suggesting a complicated mosaic of varying lemming population densities from area to area, year to year. Irruptions of Snowy Owls are unpredictable in western and eastern U.S., but recent studies suggest a majority of these owls in the northern Great Plains are in fact regular winter migrants. Unlike most owls, these are active during daylight. A single bird will consume as many as 1,600 lemmings a year. (BNA 10: 1, 3)
Local history
During an irruption in 1876-1877, Bull noted, “40+ specimens (were) received by one Rochester taxidermist; many of these birds had been feeding primarily on stranded fish along the Lake Ontario shore.” (Bull, p. 332) During 1926-1927, he added, “three Rochester taxidermists received 235 specimens.”R. E. Horsey’s listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, included two on 26 October 1926, and five on 17 February 1927 during that invasion year.In 1950, Edson reported that the last “large invasion” had occurred 1934-35, adding that “a few may be expected in this region at intervals of 4 or 5 years.” (WBR 2 January 1950) However, from that point on, he later noted, at least one to two were observed each winter. As with many increased sightings after the war, it was not clear if this was because of more observers traveling greater distances, or a true increase in numbers. (WBR, 28 December 1959)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 34 times within a 50-miles radius of Rochester ranging from early November to end of May, with nine of the reports in the last half of November. Usually one or two birds. (KB: 5:69: 4A-4B)Protection against indiscriminate shooting also helped – though even in 1963 one “beautiful big female Snowy Owl” was shot with apparent impunity by a hunter at Braddock Bay, according to Starling. “I have never heard of anyone being fined for shooting a snowy owl in Rochester and yet they are killed here each year,” he asserted. “It seems to me that some of our conservation people should be more concerned with conserving some of our interesting forms of wildlife and less concerned with raising pheasants and ducks for the hunters to harvest each year.” (WBR 2 December 1963).
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, rare to fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an occasional (perhaps irregular) rare winter visitant.
Occurrence
Fall/Winter: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 21 October to 18 December, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 5 to 27 November. Subsequently, one 17 October 1994 (Hartenstein) at Geneseo was record early, though Fox wondered if an albino Red-tailed Hawk in the same area at the same time was misidentified as this species. (Fox, p. 56; KB45:32) The almost yearly fall and winter visits are eagerly anticipated, but numbers can vary dramatically from year to year. As many as 12 were reported in our area in fall 1978 (KB29: 37); “at least” 14 were reported during the winter of 1987-88. (KB38: 123) Nineteen had been tallied by the end of November in 1996. (KB 47:38)During the winter of 1991-1992 nearly 40 were banded locally through January. (GOS notes to January noteworthies)And yet, three years later, one at Point Breeze on 30 December was “the only one reported in our region in the past two seasons,” Bill Symonds noted. (LG, February 2000) “Finally a Snowy Owl! only 1” was noted at the end of the February 1977 noteworthy records in the Goshawk.These owls hunt during the day and are especially fond of open areas, including bays and outlets along the lake. They are especially easy to observe along the lakefront, sitting on the ice at Braddock Bay, for instance, or on the piers at Charlotte, or at the jetty at Irondequoit Bay outlet.One that appeared at the Summerville Pier in mid-November 1982 was still present in late January. “Fishermen using the Charlotte pier keep pretty good track of the bird, discovering that it preys heavily on gulls in the area,” Frank Dobson reported. “Fishermen come across many gull carcasses left behind by this voracious hunter.” (Birds, 6 February 1983)As many as three at a time could be found at Charlotte at the mouth of the Genesee River in November 1991, but they weren’t always the same birds. ‘There seems to be some exchange in hunting territories,” Dobson noted. “When three owls were first discovered at Charlotte Harbor, one was a white adult, two were darker young birds. There have been times when the Charlotte birds have been all dark plumaged, or two or three have been very white.” (Birds, 1 December 1991) Maxima: 7 on 24 November 1991 (Davids) west lakeshore. (KB 42:31) 5 on 12 December 1964 (Listman) at Braddock Bay. (KB15: 106) 4 on 9 March 1968 (Kemnitzer, Listman) at Braddock Bay. (KB18: 95)
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated in most years had departed by 14 April, with a late departure date of 31 May in 1954 when Listman saw one perched on a fallen tree at the east spit of Braddock Bay. (GOS, May-August 1954; BA, 3 June 1954) One even later at the Lakeshore Golf course on 16 June 1992 (R. Spahn) was “very likely a rehabbed bird released in late May west of Braddock Bay.” (GOS, September 1992) It flew from the golf club’s flagpole west toward Russell Station. Misc.
Particularly interesting was one with an orange spot on the back of its head, observed in the Webster Xerox complex on 16 May 1994 and again at the I 390-590 interchange on 24-25 May. It had been marked and banded at Logan Airport, Boston, on 29 January, then taken to Duxbury Beach, 30 miles south of Boston and released. It stayed there about four weeks, then returned after a two-month lapse, staying again until May 5. The next sighting was 400 miles west, in the Xerox parking lot. (Birds, 28 August 1994)One with “an apparent affinity for secondary education” lingered for several weeks around the Gates Chili Central School complex during the winter of 1964-1965, Brown reported. “For a time it seemed to prefer the school parking lot” but also could be found on the soccer field. “Quite unperturbed by cars, it could be approached within a few feet.” (BA, 18 February 1965) Another was spotted sitting on the wings of the Times Square Building downtown in January 1972 (BA, 13 January 1972); the following November a “very similar-appearing” Snowy perched in the exact same spot. (BA, 30 November 1972) This birder’s first sighting was an individual perched atop Nick Tahou’s restaurant next to the Inner Loop in downtown Rochester. One even posed for pictures atop the toll booth at Hamlin Beach SP on 3 November 1991. (Marcotte diary entry)Unfortunately, these owls lack experience with moving vehicles. Bill Gillette, who lived near Savannah, witnessed a snowy owl “that almost lost an encounter with a moving car. The big bird was sitting in the middle of the road and it didn’t move until the last second,” Frank Dobson reported. “Slight contact was made, but the owl flew away, evidently unharmed.” (Birds, 1 February 1987)During January and February of 1967, one of these raptors spent several weeks along Lee Road near a Kodak plant. While Jerry Czech watched it one day, “the owl alighted in a field and sat perfectly still for several minutes, then flattened out and crept about 10 feet to a clump of grass where, with a quick thrust of one taloned foot, she pulled out a fat field mouse. A few minutes later she successfully repeated the process, hunting more like a cat than a bird,” Brown recounted. (BA, 2 February 1967) In January 1972 Walt Listman was looking at the lake off Manitou Beach near his home when he “caught a glimpse of a large bird flying low in the trough of a wave after the fashion of the seagoing jaegers,” Brown reported. “As he watched it flew up into full view. It was a Snowy owl in pursuit of a lone Goldeneye duck which it didn’t catch up with. For some reason or other it completely ignored a small bunch of Goldeneyes on the water as it flew by. And the ducks ignored the owl.” (BA, 20 January 1972)
Northern Hawk Owl
(formerly American Hawk Owl, Hawk Owl)Surnia ululaNorthern Hawk Owl
“Many times the sighting of an extremely rare bird is a dissatisfying experience because the bird provides only a fleeting glance, because it is a poorly marked female or immature bird, or perhaps because the bird is such a great distance away,” Alfred Starling, the Democrat and Chronicle bird columnist, observed in his Weekly Bird Report of 29 October 1962. Fortunately, that was not the case with a rare bird that had been seen earlier that week, he added. “It was a beautifully marked bird, and at one time, was no more than a foot above the head of one of the observers. . . The bird also was seen catching a mouse . . . in spectacular fashion.” (WBR, 29 October 1962). This “long-awaited event” was the arrival of a Northern Hawk Owl, first spotted by the “ever alert” Walt Listman at the intersection of Hogan Point and Hincher roads near Braddock Bay on 25 October. It was the first sighting of this boreal species here since 1940, and came amidst a major irruption, during which there were10 reports of these accipiter-like owls within the confines of metropolitan Toronto (B&M, p. 281). At least three others were found in New York State, including one that lingered at Millersport, Niagara County from 28 December 1962 to 10 February 1963 (Levine, p. 331).When Listman first observed the bird, it was sitting in a medium-sized tree. He stopped his car a few hundred feet away and studied it through his binoculars. “I then drove up until I was almost beneath the tree and took a good, long look. . . . He seemed to be rather settled in that particular tree and quite tame. The feathers being blown about by the wind looked quite soft and fluffy.” (KB 13:27)
Background
One of North America’s least studied birds, the Northern Hawk Owl “has a bold nature and seems to lack fear of humans, delighting birders, who often travel great distances to observe it,” note James and Patricia Duncan in their Birds of North America profile of this species. In structure and behavior it more closely resembles accipiters than its fellow owl species. It is a year-round resident in boreal forests from Alaska, eastward to Newfoundland, Scandinavia and Siberia. Its periodic irruptions into southern Canada and northern U.S. “are thought to correlate with high reproductive success followed by severe winter conditions and decreased prey availability.” Population poorly understood, but not considered at risk; may benefit from logging that opens up clear cut areas for hunting. (BNA 356: 1, 16-17)Like the bird at Millersport, many of these birds will remain at the same spot for weeks, even months. These rare visitors from the north are primarily active during the daytime, and are “usually seen watching for . . . prey from some exposed perch,” Elon Howard Eton (1914) wrote. When disturbed, a hawk owl “pitches downward and flies rapidly away over the tops of the grass or bushes, gliding abruptly upward when alighting” (Eaton II: 128). “When scanning for prey,” adds the BNA profile, a hawk owl “leans forward so that body and tail are almost horizontal; tail-pumping observed; when it locates prey, head is ‘snapped’ into position and body becomes rigid. Sometimes opens wings and appears ready to pounce, almost falling off perch before regaining balance. Swoops down on prey fast and low.” (BNA 356:6)
Local History
Eaton’s records included two from Monroe County in 1889, one of which reportedly was flushed and collected by a hunter in Hamlin in October. (B&M, p. 281) Neil Posson, writing on “Some Birds of Unusual Occurrence in Orleans County, NY,” in 1899, noted that one had been taken as a specimen near Holley “a few years ago.” (Auk 16: 195) Indeed, as many as three of four specimens had been obtained from Holley and Clarendon by 1898. (B&M, p. 281)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated that he had seen two and collected one prior to 1913, and that another had been seen 13 January 1919 by William Edson. Indeed, Bull (1974) reported that “scarcely three dozen reliable reports exist” for the entire state.” (Bull, p. 332).
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a casual, very rare winter visitant.
Occurrence
As many as seven or eight records existed for our region through 1913. Since then, about a half-dozen records. 1. One 13 January 1919 was seen by Edson and reported by Horsey (AL, p. 35) 2. One 8 November 1936 (AL, p. 35). Listed in Edson’s Weekly Bird Report of 16 November 1936 without comment. 3. One 18 February 1940 at Highland Park “apparently remained but a short time” (AL, p. 35; WBR, 26 February 1940) 4. One 25 October 1962 (Listman) near Hogan Point. Listman’s bird was seen by about a dozen people until dark. “The bird was observed to hover over and catch at least two mice. One of these, it left in an old bird’s nest,” Listman reported. “Neil Moon reported that the bird caught a mouse and flew up the road a few feet off the ground directly toward him. As it neared him, it rose just high enough to avoid striking him in the head and continued on to a perch. Other instances of its fearlessness were reported.” No wonder Starling described this bird’s hunting style as “spectacular”! (KB 13:27; WBR, 29 October 1962) 5. One 6, 14 February 1980 (H. Dolan) at Greece (KB30:108) “reported from an area where thorough search was virtually impossible.” 6. One 27 January 1991 (O’Hara) along Church Road, Hamlin (KB 41:105), perched with its back to the road about 300 yards away in the top of a tall, hedgerow tree. “A long tail was obvious, and its gray back was spotted with white. When the bird’s head turned toward O’Hara, black outlined facial discs were visible. Then when the raptor suddenly cocked its tail and slowly lowered it, a characteristic of a northern hawk-owl, O’Hara was sure of his find.” (Birds, 10 Feb 1991). Unfortunately, the bird, seen at 5 p.m., was gone the next day. (Note: 1987 brought reports of two single birds – one 25 January 1987 along the parkway near Rochester, and one 10 February 1987 at Pittsford – that were not listed in the Little Gull, Goshawk or the Region 2 summary in the Kingbird, though the notes to the January noteworthy listings in the Goshawk refer to two “recent, unconfirmed reports” – see GOS, March 1987. They were reported to NYSARC, which did not accept them. See KB 38:232. The 25 January sighting was described in Frank Dobson’s column as follows: Birders Ed and Charlotte Avery were returning from Lakeside Beach State Park along the parkway, finding numerous Short-eared Owls hunting along the median. In the Kendall Road area a “distinctive” medium-sized owl with a long tail joined the hunt, cruising back and forth over the grass at times as close as 50 yards. “The Averys could clearly see its forward-looking eyes, smaller head and dark barring on the breast and undersides, the marks of a northern hawk owl.” See Birds, 22 February 1987.)
Barred Owl
Strix variaBarred Owl
At 4 am. on 6 May 1966, Laura Moon awakened to the sound of an owl calling behind her house on Edgewater Lane in Irondequoit. After only a few calls she recognized it as a Barred Owl. “Who cooks for you-all?” it seemed to say. Without hesitation, Laura woke her husband Neil. This is not an owl normally heard in Rochester’s suburbs, not even on a three-acre wooded lot like the Moons’. They stood at the open window listening for 10 minutes as it repeatedly called, sometimes giving only a single drawn out hoot, other times giving an eight note “who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all.” (GOS, July-September 1966)Eaton (1914) considered this to be the “most vociferous of our owls.” Its unique vocalizations can also include “sounds like the laughter of demons” or the shrieks of a half-strangled person. Indeed, “there can be little doubt that the stories told by pioneers of the blood-curdling shrieks of the ‘panther’ which followed them in the woods are to be attributed to this bird.” (Eaton II:116)
Background
This resident of deep forests across the eastern U.S. has expanded is range north and west through the boreal forests of Canada to the Pacific coast and south into northern California. This range expansion in the Pacific Northwest has brought it into contact with the endangered Spotted Owl, which it has been known to displace. It prefers large, unfragmented blocks of forests and is usually found in association with mature and old-growth tracts, typically of mixed deciduous and conifer. “Thought to prefer old forests owing to greater availability of potential nest sites, lower stem densities facilitating easier hunting, and closed canopy for thermoregulation and protection from mobbing,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. Found in low densities across most of its range. Populations are believed stable or increasing. However, deforestation and timber harvesting have reduced habitat in eastern U.S. and Canada. (BNA 508: 1, 4, 12-13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed it as an uncommon resident in Monroe and Wayne counties, and also occurring in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this was a “rare” species that had been recorded on one date in each of seven years, none in summer.When Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951 through 1954, this was the least encountered of our resident owls, reported only 11 times within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. Six of the sightings, involving average counts of 3-5, were in May – likely migrants. (KB 5: 69: 4A-4B)In 1953 Tanghe listed it as a probable breeder at Bergen Swamp and Reed Road. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an uncommon permanent resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an uncommon (presumably permanent) resident.
Occurrence
This species is much more localized in distribution here than Great Horned Owls. “Unlike the Great Horned Owl, which shows toleration for fragmented forests and woodlots, the Barred Owl seems to prefer larger unbroken woodlands,” John M. C. Peterson wrote in his profile of this species for The Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State. Indeed, its statewide distribution during the BBA seemed more like that of the Northern Goshawk or Broad-winged Hawk, rather than raptors of wet woodlands. “The Barred Owl is generally most concentrated in areas of the state with heavy forest cover.” (Andrle, p. 206) Edson in 1949 said this species was among the “frequent tenants” of Reed Road swamp. (GOS, August/October 1949) The first BBA project found evidence of breeding in widely scattered blocks in our region, with clusters of confirmed breeding in and around Letchworth SP and Bergen Swamp, a traditional stronghold where four were found on 20 May 1984 (mob) and three on 22 June 1985 by an RBA field trip. (GOS, July/August 1984; LG, August/September 1985)Blocks with evidence of breeding increased significantly during the second project, primarily in Livingston and eastern Wyoming counties, thanks in large part to diligent “owling” by Kurt Fox. In Livingston County it has been recorded “in the swamps and hills near the south end of Conesus Lake, Hemlock Lake and scattered places in the hills in the southern part” of the county. (Fox, p. 57)
Maxima: 7 on 16 May 1954 (Barry) at Huckleberry Swamp (now Olga Fleischer Nature Preserve) near Sodus Bay. Tom Barry tallied these birds in the predawn hours while participating in the annual Spring Census, or Big Day. (GOS, May/August 1954) 6 on 6 September 2003 (Daniels, R. Spahn, Whittum) Wayne County. (GNR) 8 on 22 December 2001 (VanHorn) in the Honeoye Lake/Cumming Nature Center area. (GNR) 5 on 30 December 2000 (R. Spahn et al) at Honeoye Lake. (LG, February 2001)
Great Gray Owl
Strix nebulosaGreat Gray Owl
A man wandered over to the hawkwatch platform at Braddock Bay in April 1996, wanting to show people a picture of a Great Gray Owl.Mike Davids looked at, and asked the man if the picture had been taken in Canada, where the species was staging one of its periodic incursions. “No,” the man replied. “At Hamlin.” “You mean Hamlin Beach State Park?” a suddenly quite-interested Davids inquired. “Yes.” “When?” “Yesterday.”That was all Davids needed to hear. He began hollering for everyone to come and take a look. And head for the park! No wonder. Only one birder had ever reported seeing this species in our region – two times, no less – but the last occurrence had been nearly a half century before. As it turned out, Davids didn’t get to see the bird at Hamlin Beach SP; when he and birding partner Dave Tetlow went along the Yanty Creek trail in search of it, they split up where the trail forks. Tetlow saw it as it flew off; Davids didn’t – and was quite “heartbroken” about it. However, he later got an even better view when a fellow teacher called him at home to say he had seen a Great Gray Owl sitting on a post right along the Lake Ontario State Parkway near the Orleans County line. He agreed to drive to the spot and wait for Davids to arrive. When Davids pulled up, about 5:30 p.m., there was the owl, still sitting on the post “staring right at me.” Background
It is startling to learn that this owl, appearing so large, has a body mass at least 15 percent less than that of the Great Horned Owl. “Thus its plumage makes up much of the bulk of the bird, allowing it to withstand the bitter cold of northern winters,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It inhabits dense boreal forests across northern Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia, Alaska and Canada, but also extending southward in the United States into the northern Rockies and Sierras. When rodent prey is scarce, these birds can irrupt in large numbers into southern Canada and northern U.S., and did so in 1978-79, 1983-84, and 1991-92. This owl can hear prey hidden by snow, then plunge through hard crust to catch it. Food supply is probably the critical factor regulating this species’ population; timber harvesting is the human activity that poses the greatest threat. (BNA 41: 1, 4-5, 12)
Local history
Imagine looking out your back window and finding one of these perched on the roof of your shed!Ernest Short enjoyed just such an experience for 15 minutes on 6 February 1948 at his Churchville home. Short seems to have been unaccountably blessed with sightings of this species: the one on his shed and the one he collected in a cedar swamp three miles west of Chili in March 1937 (B&M, p. 283) were the only two Monroe County records for many decades. Indeed, “very few ornithologists have ever seen a live wild one in New York,” Bull noted (1974), adding that this species “is even rarer with us than the Hawk Owl.” (Bull, p. 334)
Status
Casual, very rare visitor
Occurrence
1. One March 1937 (Short) collected in a cedar swamp west of Chili. (B&M, p. 283) 2. One 6 February 1948 (Short) Churchville. (B&M, p. 283) Three and possibly as many as seven showed up in Rush, Manitou, Kendall, and Hamlin Beach SP during an irruption that began with the Rush bird on 28 March 1996 and extended into April. (GOS, June 1996; KB 46: 231, 234) “One was photographed at Hamlin Beach SP by park personnel and shown to birders at Braddock Bay.” (LG, May 1996) The 1996 sightings were as follows: One on 28 March 1996 at Rotary Sunshine Camp, Five Points Road, Town of Rush, Monroe Co. Not accepted by NYSARC. (KB 49: 120) What may have been the same bird reported 12-13 April in Rush. (KB 46: 234) One on 2 April 1996 at Braddock Bay owl banding project. (KB 46: 231) One 13-14, 16 April at Hamlin Beach SP. (KB 46: 234) One 27 April at Kendall, possibly same as the Hamlin Beach SP bird, roosting on a roadside reflector along the parkway. (LG, May 1996) NYSARC lists seven other records that it accepted statewide for the same period. (KB 49: 117)
Long-eared Owl
Asio otusLong-eared Owl
One of these beneficial birds, perched in a large tree near Buck Pond in June 1945, drew the wrath of two Great Blue Herons who “did not care to have him in that vicinity,” Edson reported. “They forthwith proceeded to drive him away from there.” The skirmish puzzled Edson on several counts. Why was the owl out in the open in broad daylight, instead of roosting concealed in a dense hemlock? And why would the herons object to its presence, since it apparently posed no threat to the birds and, being primarily a mouse-eating bird, certainly would not compete with them for food? “We could wish that we might interview these birds and learn the what and the why of this blitz.” (WBR, 11 June 1945)On 9 February 1997, in “sunny, glorious weather,” another of these owls was harassed as it flew in off the lake at Charlotte. It looked like “a big cigar with wings, but just a blunt, squared off thing where the head should be.” This birder had seen Short-eared Owls coming across the lake, but this was no Short-eared. The plumage wasn’t right. Two Herring Gulls that were harassing the owl “absolutely dwarfed it in size.” Its flight was buoyant, and it even circled over the surface of the water a couple of times before finally landing on a big rock just east of Ontario Beach. Now the big ear tufts were apparent, and the cross hatching of vertical and horizontal markings on the breast. “This is my best view ever of a Long-Eared Owl.” (Marcotte diary entry)Under more typical circumstances, “It requires both a sharp eye and a knowledge of the habits of this species to find it,” Beardslee and Mitchell noted. “It is very secretive in the daytime, usually perching motionless close to the trunk of a tree surrounded by a maze of drooping branches or vines, or, even more characteristically, in a group of young evergreens.” (B&M, p. 283) Background
This species inhabits open and sparsely forested habitats across North America and Eurasia between 30 degrees and 65 degrees north latitude, with isolated populations also found in north and east Africa, the Azores and the Canary Islands. Though it prefers to nest and roost in dense vegetation, if usually hunts in open habitats. It often roosts communally when not breeding. Though many remain on their breeding grounds in winter, others migrate long distances, with several birds banded in northern U.S. and Canada being recovered in Mexico. Little is known about long-term population trends; numbers can fluctuate with availability of prey. (BNA 133: 1-2, 14)
Local history Eaton (1910) considered this a permanent resident in our region, listing it as uncommon in Monroe County, fairly common in Livingston and also occurring in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this species had been recorded in only six of those years, on dates ranging from 20 September to 8 June. So when one showed up in Rochester in January 1931, it was definitely a noteworthy sighting. “The bird seen here was discovered through the actions of a band of chickadees conferring as to his desirability as a neighbor,” Horsey and Edson reported in their weekly column. (“Long-eared Owl, Camouflage Expert, Pays Visit to City,” D&C, 26 January 1931) It even lingered long enough for six pellets to be collected, and examined, revealing “each contained only the hair and bones of a mouse” thus demonstrating the benefit of this species. (“Prairie Horned Lark Brings High Song Back to Meadows,” D&C, 2 February 1931)However, as birders concentrated more and more on the lakefront in the years after World War II, “It is no longer difficult to record such species as Long Eared and Saw Whet Owl every year in this area,” the Genesee Ornithological Society statistical committee noted in 1953. “The records show clearly that these birds migrate in the spring chiefly during April along the south shore of the lake and probably in smaller numbers and over a longer period of time in the fall.” (GOS, November/December 1953)When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings from 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951 through 1954, 32 of the 38 sightings of this species within a 50-mile radius of Rochester were in March through early May, with only rare occurrences at other times of the year. (KB 5: 69: 4A-4B)In his 1953 listing of breeding birds in the Rochester area, Tange considered this a rare nester, listing only Salmon Creek as a breeding location. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a rare permanent resident and a regular, uncommon to fairly common spring transient.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a rare permanent resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Pear Orchard at Manitou, on the northwest shoulder of Braddock Bay, is the place to look for these wary migrants, but it is usually found in smaller numbers than Northern Saw-whets. From 1985 to 1994, 344 were trapped and banded there, compared to 1,055 saw-whets. (GOS, October 1994)Thirteen and 19 were found in the Pear Orchard on 9-10 April 2002. “The mid-April flights were produced because we had clear skies at night with light to moderate south to southwest winds pushing the birds up on April 9 and 10,” reported Laura Councell, who surveyed the owls for BBRR that spring. “Just before dawn on April 10, the winds switched from south-southwest to the northwest and brought the birds down en masse.” Councell also noted that “Long-eared Owls are colonial by nature and where there was one there (were) often 2, 3 sometimes 6 sharing a roost tree.” (Inside the Kettle 3/2:2-8)
Spring maxima: 11 on 24 March 1979 (mob) Manitou. (GNR) 11 on 31 March 1999 (D. and K. Tetlow) Manitou. (GNR) 13 on 9 April 2002 (Councell) Manitou. (Inside the Kettle 3/2:2-8) 19 on 10 April 2002 (Councell) Manitou. (GNR) 14 on 15 April 2003 (Sherony, mob) Manitou. (GNR) Summer/Breeding status: Bull (1974) listed Salmon Creek near Braddock’s Bay, Mendon Ponds, York, Avon, Canadice Lake, Newark and Albion as breeding locations in our region. (Bull, p. 336) Jean Haller reported that a pair near her home raised four young in 1961. “These owls and resident Screech Owls were reported by the observer as flocking to the porch to listen and call to the music of a guitar.” (KB11: 157. Note: KB says near Avon. Fox indicates this occurred at Meadowood.) One was on a nest at the Frisbee Hill woods in Greece on 7 April 1973 (GNR); two adults and four immatures on 16 June 1974 (Maley) were at Brockport (GNR); and it was confirmed nesting at Northampton Park in 1976. (KB 26:159) Bergen Swamp is one of its strongholds. However, this is an extremely localized breeder in our region, as reflected in BBA data. Most blocks with evidence of breeding during the second project were in Livingston County, where Kurt Fox was especially diligent in searching out owl species.
“Despite the intensity of Atlas efforts, an even more focused search appears necessary in order to better understand the Long-eared Owl’s breeding status in New York,” John M. C. Peterson suggested after the first BBA project. (Andrle, p. 208) Fall: “Seldom recorded as a migrant during the fall.” (LG, December 1999) So two on 31 October 1999 (mob) at Hogan Point definitely made the noteworthy list.
Winter: Most of the participants on a 7 December 2003 field trip to Nations Road had long since departed by the time the last car of birders drove east along Huston Road in the darkness and stopped in front of a log cabin set back in the woods. A tape of a screech-owl had been played just a few minutes when Chita McKinney spotted an owl flying at the group from across the road in bright moonlight. “As it flew down the lane toward the cabin Chita got it in our bright spotlight – a beautiful Long-eared Owl. Perhaps it was looking for a meal of the smaller owl in our tape recorder,” Bob McKinney noted. (LG, January 2004)
Winter maxima: 7 on 10 February 1962 (T. Tetlow et al) had apparently wintered in dense conifers at Hamlin Beach SP. (GNR, KB12: 35)
Winter: Most of the participants on a 7 December 2003 field trip to Nations Road had long since departed by the time the last car of birders drove east along Huston Road in the darkness and stopped in front of a log cabin set back in the woods. A tape of a screech-owl had been played just a few minutes when Chita McKinney spotted an owl flying at the group from across the road in bright moonlight. “As it flew down the lane toward the cabin Chita got it in our bright spotlight – a beautiful Long-eared Owl. Perhaps it was looking for a meal of the smaller owl in our tape recorder,” Bob McKinney noted. (LG, January 2004)
Winter maxima: 7 on 10 February 1962 (T. Tetlow et al) had apparently wintered in dense conifers at Hamlin Beach SP. (GNR, KB12: 35)
Short-eared Owl*
Asio flammeusShort-eared Owl*
It was a dramatic moment for this beginning birder: A Short-eared Owl launched itself on 10 December 1988 from its perch on a fencepost, swooped down into a field just south of the old Retsof salt mine, and plucked a large rodent from the grass. “It tried to land on a fence post, missed, and swooped toward the next. Suddenly, the rodent became snagged on barbed wire. The owl continued to lunge forward a second or so, then let go and flew (fell?) to the ground. Then it was back in the air, swooping across the field to a new perch, with the rodent left snagged on the barbed wire.” (Marcotte diary entry)Even more dramatic were a couple of encounters Walt Listman had with these birds. When he saw one hunting along the lake at Manitou in January 1961, he stopped his car and “squeaked” a couple of times. “The owl flew directly at the car, nearly flapping in the open window in search of the mouse that wasn’t there,” John Brown reported. (BA, 19 January 1961) At about dusk on 8 December 1963, Listman stopped along Hogan Point Road “to see if he could ‘squeak’ some small birds out of the hedgerow,” Brown related. “After a few minutes he happened to look up, and there were no less than six Short-eared owls circling silently in the air above him. The effect, he said, was eerie.” (BA, 12 December 1963)December/early January field trips to Nation Road are scheduled specifically in hopes of finding these winter visitors. It little matters what else is seen on these trips; if Short-eared Owls are observed, participants are well satisfied.More than 50 along Nations Road in January 1977 prompted Chip Perrigo to observe that “dozens of ‘Short-ears’ wheeling and twisting above a stand of black locusts is as awesome and exciting an aerial display as one may ever see.” (LG, February 1977)
Background
This is one of the world’s most widely distributed owls, breeding throughout much of North America and Eurasia, in South America and even in Hawaii. Its reliance on fluctuating populations of small mammals for prey results in “considerable local variation in its numbers and reproductive success” and helps explain why it is sometimes nomadic. It breeds in open grasslands and agricultural areas as far south as central California, Kansas and Missouri. However, it has declined severely as a breeder in the northeastern United States due to loss of habitat. This “loosely colonial breeder” also forms communal roosts in fall and winter. Winter roosts my turn into breeding territories if prey is sufficient. (BNA 62: 1, 2, 11, 15)
Local history
Eaton (1914) considered this “one of our commonest owls, at least in the lowlands and marshy districts far outnumbering all other species . . .” He listed this as an uncommon resident in Monroe County, and occasional in Wayne. It was fairly common as a transient in Monroe and as a winter visitor in Wayne. For Livingston, he listed it as occurring as a transient. (Eaton II: 113, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this species had been recorded on one to two dates in each of five years, dates ranging from 28 January to 26 June, with a maximum count of four. When Leo Tanghe examined sightings from 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, he found this species reported 65 times, trailing only Great Horned and Screech among the owls. It was observed from early November through mid-May, usually one or two birds, but average counts of 3-7 in last half of February through third week of March when 21 of the sightings occurred. (KB 5: 69: 4A-4B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common to common winter visitant and an occasional, rare summer visitant. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular fairly common to rare winter visitant and a (presumably occasional) rare local summer resident.
Occurrence
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 22 September to 14 January, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 25 October to 2 December. Winter: Open fields of the west lakeshore and especially in Livingston County are favorite wintering grounds of these diurnal predators – and a mecca for Rochester area birders eager to observe these birds. Nations Road south of Avon, Doran Road in Lima and the Geneseo Airport have been reliable locations. Large numbers were reported in the Avon area in early December 1961. Fifteen were tallied by Haller and Hyder on 3 December, but “reports from farmers and fox hunters indicated that up to 100 may have been present.” (KB12: 35) Winter maxima: 50 on 3 December 1977 (RBA trip) Nations Road near Avon. (LG, February 1978) 52 on 23 January 1977 (M. and T. Tetlow) Nations Road near Avon. (LG, February 1977) Up to 31 in a single flock during the winter of 1974-75 at Point Breeze. (KB25: 96) 82 from 3 p.m. until dark on 3 January 1988 (R. Dobson) in Hamlin. (GOS, March 1988; Birds, 31 January 1988) 31 on 9 February 1975 (J. Johnson) west lakeshore. (GOS, April 1975) 35 on 17 February 1981 (R. and K. Ballard, Griffith, Conklin) along Caledonia Road, Retsof. (LG, March 1981)
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated that in most years it had departed by 29 April, with a late departure date of 20 May. Wintering birds, perhaps bolstered by northbound migrants, can continue to be found well into spring.
Spring maxima: 32 on 19 March 2001 (Dalton) Nations Road. (LG, May 2001) 55 on 31 March 2001 (Kimball) Nation’s Road. (LG, May 2001)
Summer/breeding status: When prey is abundant, these ground nesters sometimes stay to breed. Eaton said they commonly did so near Brockport and Chili in the early 1900s. (Eaton II:114) Tanghe, in his 1953 listing of breeding birds in the Rochester area, considered this a rare nester, listing only Ling Road as a breeding location. (GOS, May/August 1953)Bull (1974) also listed breeding locations near Savannah and Rigney’s Bluff. (Bull, p. 338) The Rochester airport was described as a former nesting area when one was seen there on 1 July 1984. (KB 34:243). However, during the first BBA project (1980-1985) evidence of breeding was recorded in only eight blocks, none confirmed, five of them in Livingston County. Indeed, breeding was confirmed in only one block in all of upstate New York. During the second project, evidence of breeding was reported, but not confirmed, in only three blocks assigned to our region – two in Livingston and one in Ontario counties.Given this species’ irruptive, nomadic nature, “it should not be surprising, then, that the distribution of this owl has changed in New York and that it appears in different areas from year to year,” Stephen Eaton suggested in his profile of this species for The Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York state. (Andrle, p. 210) Nonetheless, this species is on New York’s endangered list. “The conservation of short-eared owls in New York depends on protecting relatively large, open sites that support small rodents. Except for a few large marshes, most of the nest sites recorded in recent years have been found on farms, typically in active hayfields or pastures where the nests and young birds are sometimes mowed or plowed. Once abandoned, agricultural sites rapidly become unsuitable for owls because they succeed to woodlands or are replaced by development,” a DEC profile of this species suggests. More recently, an attempted nesting along Bennett Road in Parma in 1987 was unsuccessful when “the farmer plowed the field being used by these owls.” That same year at least one pair was apparently more successful along Sawyer Road in Kendall given the “presence of suspected juveniles later in the season.” (KB 37: 221) The Little Gull indicated two pair were in the Point Breeze area all of June until 7 July. (LG, September 1987) A pair summered at Lima in 1997. However, the birds “apparently did not produce any young; at least none was seen.” (KB 47:199, 297)
Misc.
John Foster was surprised to come upon 20 of them “roosting in the shadow of a snowbank in a ditch” along Nations Road in March 1971. (BA, 25 March 1971) The “surprise of the day” for Frank Dobson, during one late winter outing along the Genesee Valley south from Scottsville, was finding one “sitting on a snowbank at the edge of the road, where it even waited patiently to have its picture taken from about 20 feet away.” (Birds, 10 March 1985) John Brown reported watching Short-eared Owls taking turns “dive-bombing” four or five pheasants – “apparently just for the fun of it” – in a field along Nations Road on 19 February 1977. “The pheasants would duck down and then peck at their tormentors, but there never seemed to be any contact.” (BA, 23 February 1977)Four years later, an RBA field trip found “six or eight” Short-eared Owls, a harrier and a red fox all “finding and devouring fat mice” in a single field along Nation’s Road. “The owls’ aerial gyrations were fascinating as they pursued the harrier and each other in the late afternoon sunshine.” (BA, 5 February 1981) Of the dozen or so seen along Chandler and Retsof roads on 3 February 1991 “Some were heard barking. Many bounced around like giant moths nearby or even right overhead,” Bob Spahn recounted. (GOS, March 1991)In March 1958, John Brown and Walt Listman were trudging back to their cars in the growing darkness after watching six along the Lake Ontario Parkway at Braddock Bay. “One flew almost startlingly close and gave the strange clapping noise characteristic of the courtship flight, made by the wings striking together beneath the body,” Brown recorded. (BA, 13 March 1958)But they are not always easy to spot, especially when sitting motionless on the ground amid tufts of dead grass. Edson, after “being deceived several times by (short-eared) owls that resembled stumps or small posts flecked with lichen, sand or snow . . . was willing to consider a certain obvious stump to be an owl; but, after I changed my mind and decided it was not one, the ‘stump’ opened its wings and flew away. In such situations the owl remains perfectly motionless until the fatal moment, doubtless snapping up many a wandering mouse.” (WBR, 10 December 1951)
Boreal Owl
Aegolius funereusBoreal Owl
On 22 February 1964, John Foster and two companions were scouting the white pines at the west end of Hamlin Beach SP where Long-eared Owls and other raptors had roosted during recent winters. “While working the south edge of the tract, I glimpsed a bird disappearing into the pines,” Foster related. Fully expecting to find a Long-eared Owl, he followed the bird, “only to discover an owl of Screech Owl size sitting on an exposed branch about 15 feet off the ground in a small clearing.” (KB 14:91-92) It was the region’s first Boreal Owl, which lingered an entire week, allowing many Rochester birders to study it and take photographs from as close as five feet away, though much of the time the owl stayed in upper branches.“This bird has eluded Rochester birders for more than 50 years,” Starling reported (WBR, 2 March 1964), adding “it seems unlikely that the bird has not come down to Rochester and vicinity since 1917. It is much more likely that the bird has been here but been unseen.” The Hamlin Beach bird was “even hard to see when standing in front of the tree that the bird was perched in.” (WBR, 9 March 1964) (Note: Starling alluded to one seen here on 24 April 1917, according to Edson’s records. However, no such record is mentioned in Horsey, Bull, AL or Yunick’s review in KB 29:185.)
Background
This cavity nester occupies boreal and subalpine forests from Scandinavia eastward across northern Siberia to Alaska, and across Canada to the Atlantic, extending southward into the U.S. in the Cascades and Rockies. Though generally a year-round resident in its range, it disperses when prey is scarce. Females are noticeably larger than males, moreso than in any other North American owl species. Reliable population estimates are unavailable; in Scandinavia nest boxes have been used extensively for this species to offset loss of natural cavities due to timber harvests. (BNA 63: 1, 3, 15)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an occasional, very rare winter visitant.
Occurrence
1. One 22-29 February 1964 (Foster, mob) was photographed at Hamlin Beach SP. (KB 14:99) 2. One 24-26 February 1965 (O’Hara, Kemnitzer) Greece “in the patch of woods that separates Lakeshore golf course from the railroad tracks,” Starling reported. The bird, which could be found in a tangle of grape vines, seemed considerably smaller than the one seen the year before. (WBR, 1 March 1965) “Thoughout this time the owl exhibited its characteristic lack of fear of human beings, showed no alarm, and often closed its eyes in the presence of observers and photographers moving about less than six feet away,” Allen Kemnitzer noted. (KB 15:75, which includes photo) 3. One 26 February 1972, was picked up dead on Chase Road, Hamlin, then given to Neil Moon. (KB 22:86) 4. One 4, 6 February 1978 (Perrigo, Listman, mob) Durand Eastman Park was located “with the aid of mobbing chickadees.” (KB 28:106) It was “tucked away in the lowest branches of a tall cedar tree.” (Little Gull, March 1978) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 29:122) 5. One 3-6 March 1979 (Carlson, mob) Northrup Creek. Michael Carlson found the bird in a small pine woods between Flynn Road and the creek. “While looking the area over he heard Blue jays giving typical alarm calls, and investigation revealed the owl perched on a branch about 20 feet up in a red pine,” John Brown reported (BA, 7 March 1979). It was seen and photographed by birders from all over the state. (KB 29:146) Apparently accepted by NYSARC, but it gives wrong date and location. (KB 30:204) 6. One 4-5 March 1986 (Reinhardt) at Manitou. (KB 36:149) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 37:206) 7. One 15 March 1986 (Beal), apparently different from 6 above, at Manitou. (KB 36:149) 8. One “very cooperative” bird 6 March 1987 (Reinhardt, Boudrie) in a “pine-spruce plantation” along Curtis Road, Parma. (KB 37:148) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 38:231) 9. One 6 February 1992 (Dodge) at the Pear Orchard, Braddock Bay, found by Jeff Dodge and trapped and banded by Dave Tetlow during an influx of this species in the Northeast. (LGNR, KB 42:96) 10. One found dead 1 January 1996 (D. Tetlow, Davids) in Perry. (KB 46: 148, 150) Three records occurred in spring 1996 during the Great Gray Owl influx. 11. One found dead 3 March 1996 at the Braddock Bay Raptor Research owl banding station (KB 46: 231) 12. One netted and banded 9 April 1996 at the Braddock Bay Raptor Research owl banding station (KB 46:231) 13: One heard calling 20 April 1996 at the Braddock Bay Raptor Research owl banding station (KB 46:231) 14. One 25-28 March 2001 (McDonald, mob) Manitou. (KB 51:695, 698) “The bird was quite cooperative . . . on two of those days it was roosting in fairly close proximity to a Northern Saw-whet Owl, allowing visitors immediate comparison of the two species.” Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 53:291) 15. One 30 December 2004-1 January 2005 (D. Tetlow, mob) Braddock Bay. (KB 55:172) 16. One 22 January 2005 (Leary) Hilton (KB 55: 572) “hit a patio door window but was only stunned and flew off a few minutes later.” (LG, March 2005)
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Aegolius acadicusNorthern Saw-whet Owl
Like many of the diminutive Saw-whets that are discovered by birders in the old Pear Orchard near Braddock Bay, one on 19 March 1978 quickly became the center of attention. “One birder was within five feet of the owl (which was well concealed in a tangled grapevine), immediately below it, taking pictures with a long lens, and the bird was leaning forward slightly, staring down at him,” Robert Spahn recounted. “At least ten other people were scattered about between six and 30 feet away from the bird.” Suddenly a Red-shouldered Hawk flew over, perhaps 300 to 400 feet above. “Instantly, the owl’s eyes narrowed to slits and its head snapped back, its gaze following the hawk until it disappeared,” Spahn noted. “In spite of the owl’s being seemingly buried in the tangle and virtually invisible, it sighted the hawk and then considered it more of a threat than this group of people, one of them only a few feet away pointing a long lens at it. After the hawk had passed the owl’s gaze was again focused, wide-eyed, on the photographer.” (KB28: 161)Similarly, one “clutching a mouse in its talons” was found in the Pear Orchard by members of an RBA field trip in March 1981. “It was perched in a small evergreen and ignored eager photographers flashing pictures six inches away from its face, but showed interest when a white cat got within 15 feet of its tree,” John Brown reported. (BA, 26 March 1981) Just as field trips journey to Nations Road in winter to see Short-eared Owls, other trips are scheduled in the Pear Orchard specifically in hopes of find Saw-whets and Long-eareds. This can put real pressure on the field trip leader. That pressure was even greater for David Miller, leading an annual RBA owling trip at the pines off Manitou Beach Road in spring 1994. “One guest had come all the way from North Carolina to see a saw whet and a long eared owl.”Fortunately, a Saw-whet was located. “As many of you know, the snow can pile up in the pines. This day was no exception. As our visitor from North Carolina ran to see the owl, the crust of snow broke and dumped her facefirst into the 2 foot pile. Of course getting a lifer is usually worth anything, so a little snow on your binocular lens or down your jacket isn’t really a bother. As for me, the big smile on our visitor’s face made it all worthwhile.” (LG, April 1994) Background
This is one of our commonest owls in forested areas of southern Canada and northern U.S., especially in coniferous forests at moderate elevation and latitude. Its breeding range also extends south into the mountainous areas of the western U.S. into Mexico. Many move south in winter, with “significant concentrations” in spring and fall around the Great Lakes. Annual differences in numbers of birds involved in these movements seems tied to breeding success. Two commonly used routes in the east are from central Ontario down the Ohio River valley to Kentucky and along the Atlantic coastal lowlands from Nova Scotia to North Carolina. Destruction of forests, especially nesting snags, is a threat to this cavity dweller, but it also takes readily to nest boxes. (BNA 42: 1, 3, 12)
Local history Eaton (1910) list this as a rare resident and uncommon winter visitor in Monroe County with no record of occurrence in Livingston or Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)One family was found 2 May 1901 in an old orchard south of Coldwater in the town of Chili. “At that date they had just crawled out of the nest cavity and sat in a row on the limb.” (B&M, p. 286) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this record for this “rare” species: “Raymond C. Arnold, 342 Pearl St., caught it in his yard, brought it to Highland Park where it was identified and released . . . July 6, 1932.”When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings from 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951 to 1954, 30 of the 41 sightings within a 50-mile radius of Rochester were in late March and April, with only rare occurrences at other times of the year. (KB 5: 69: 4A-4B)Tanghe did not include this species in his 1953 listing of birds known to be nesting in the Rochester area. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common spring transient; a sporadic, rare summer resident; an occasional, rare fall transient and an occasional, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic rare winter visitant.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 24 February to 30 March, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 13 to 23 March. Subsequently, one on 18 February 1995 (Whittum, Genesee Ornithological Society trip) at Manitou was an even earlier “first of spring migration.” (GOS, April 1995) In most years had departed by 20 April, with a late departure date of 24 May. “Name your wood lot along the lake shore and chances are that, during the first week of April, Saw Whet Owls could be found there,” Tom Barry noted in 1952. (GOS, March/April 1952) Barry and Walt Listman found ten of them “scattered in every woods searched from Island Cottage to Salmon Creek” on 3 April that year. This followed a night of southwest winds on the 1st.Rochester birders will attest it isn’t always that easy to find migrating saw-whets. Nonetheless, spring is the season when these beloved, diminutive birds are most often encountered in our region. Unlike Long-eared Owls, which tend to be found in groups, saw-whets are often solitary, and when roosting, position themselves close to the trunk for concealment. (Inside the Kettle, July 2005)Bill Symonds, in his March Birding Tips in 1993, noted that when searching the pines near the Pear Orchard, “Saw-whet Owls are generally found 5 to 8 feet high in pines no higher than 15 feet, while Long-Eared Owls roost in the taller pines.” (LG, February 1993)One saw-whet was found in a vacant home at Manitou on 17 March 1968. (KB 18:95)However, it wasn’t until Braddock Bay Raptor Research began mist netting owls “on a regular basis” in 1988 at Braddock Bay that people began to realize just how numerous they could be. (KB 38: 195) That first year nets were only set up on a few nights. “However, the success was phenomenal,” noted the summary of the spring hawk/owl banding project. A total of 101 saw-whets were banded, more than tripling the tally from the year before. “This suggests that the owl migration that occurs at Braddock Bay is far more substantial than previously suspected.” (GOS, August/September 1988) The tallies soared in subsequent years with more intensive effort. For example, 277 saw-whets were banded March through May 1991 at the former Pear Orchard and adjacent state land near Braddock Bay. (GOS, September 1991) The next spring, another 292 were banded. The first large movement that year was on 9-10 March when 39 saw-whets were banded near Braddock Bay. 18-24 inches of snow then shut down the migration (and the banding station!). However, on 15 March a saw-whet was observed eating a Starling at Braddock Bay Raptor Research headquarters just down the road at 11 p.m. “The next day, the only remains that could be found were a few feathers and an empty skull.” When the migration resumed, peak movements occurred between 6 and 22 April “induced by a number of frontal passages followed by rain.” (GOS, July/Aug 1992) In all, 1,055 of these owls were trapped and banded from 1985 to 1994 at the Pear Orchard, compared to 344 Long-eared Owls. (GOS, October 1994) Laura Councell, who surveyed owls at the Pear Orchard in 2002 for BBRR, observed that, unlike Long-eared Owls that are “colonial by nature” with as many as six birds sharing a single roost tree, Saw-whets “seemed to space themselves apart.” Nonetheless, a few trees proved to be popular roost sites “and were frequently occupied throughout the season. It was apparent that the age and species of a tree was indicative of who would roost there.” (Inside the Kettle 3:2)
Summer/Breeding status: Edson reported they were “known to nest for many years” at the Reed Road swamp. (WBR, 22 January 1951) Bull listed five locations in Monroe County where these little owls had been known to nest during the period 1901-1964: near Brockport, the Ling Road swamp, south of Coldwater, near Rochester and at Scottsville, but none in Livingston or Wayne. (Bull, p. 340) The first BBA project found evidence of breeding in only eight blocks with nesting confirmed only in Mendon Ponds Park and probable in Bergen Swamp, another traditional stronghold, where nesting was found in 1993. (GOS, July/Aug 1993; KB 33:266) However, during the second BBA, several sightings away from its traditional strongholds led to suspicions it is a more widespread breeder here than previously thought. (KB 51:783)
“It is so nocturnal that nesting individuals are extremely difficult to locate, which should be considered when assessing its rarity,” Emanuel Levine noted in his discussion of this species for The Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State. (Andrle, p. 212)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 30 September to 23 October, with a late departure date of 25 November. Subsequently one on 23 September 2004 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster was a record early “first of fall.” (GOS, December 2004)One banded on 8 November 1994 (McKinney) at Penfield was “one of the few fall records over the last 25 years. It is suspected that more actually migrate through, secretive at this time of the year.” (KB 45: 31-32)Note, for example, the fall occurrences under Misc. below.
Winter: As in fall, not often found in winter, but probably occurs here more often than reported. (KB 43:124)
Winter maxima: 12 on 22 December 2001 (D. VanHorn) in the Honeoye Lakes area during the Little Lakes CBC. (KB: 52:153)
Misc.
Most Rochester birders have a favorite Saw-whet encounter. For example, this birder was walking in Badgerow Park on 15 March 1992 when he glanced up into a vine tangled sapling leaning over a trail and found a Northern Saw-whet staring back at him no more than four to five feet away.“Talk about surprised! His eyes bug out when he sees me, and I’m sure mine do too. As I understand is their custom, he does not move at all, just stares back at me.” This “lifer” Saw-whet remained in the same spot all day, allowing neighbors and other birders to come up to it for a close look. (Marcotte diary entry)In a less expected place was a rare fall bird that “obligingly perched in a small tree . . . close to windows of the Schlegel Corp. offices at 400 East Ave. where it attracted the attention of several people,” John Brown reported. (BA, 18 November 1982) Tom Tetlow was driving along Janes Road on 21 January 1962 when “his headlights picked up a small owl sitting in the road. He stopped and walked up to within a few feet of it,” John Brown reported. It was a Saw-whet. (BA, 25 January 1962)This wasn’t the only road encounter with this species. Walt Listman, driving along the Lake Ontario State Parkway in April 1963, stopped to investigate “a small blob of feathers on the pavement,” John Brown related. “It turned out to be a sleeping Saw-whet owl, which awoke and flew off into Rose’s Marsh.” (BA, 11 April 1963) Unfortunately, during the first week of November 1989, no fewer than three were found killed by cars. “It is possible that these birds were going south on a northwest wind when the wind turned southwest, concentrating them along the lakeshore,” Dave Tetlow suggested. (LG, December 1989)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 30 September to 23 October, with a late departure date of 25 November. Subsequently one on 23 September 2004 (D. and D. Traver) at Webster was a record early “first of fall.” (GOS, December 2004)One banded on 8 November 1994 (McKinney) at Penfield was “one of the few fall records over the last 25 years. It is suspected that more actually migrate through, secretive at this time of the year.” (KB 45: 31-32)Note, for example, the fall occurrences under Misc. below.
Winter: As in fall, not often found in winter, but probably occurs here more often than reported. (KB 43:124)
Winter maxima: 12 on 22 December 2001 (D. VanHorn) in the Honeoye Lakes area during the Little Lakes CBC. (KB: 52:153)
Misc.
Most Rochester birders have a favorite Saw-whet encounter. For example, this birder was walking in Badgerow Park on 15 March 1992 when he glanced up into a vine tangled sapling leaning over a trail and found a Northern Saw-whet staring back at him no more than four to five feet away.“Talk about surprised! His eyes bug out when he sees me, and I’m sure mine do too. As I understand is their custom, he does not move at all, just stares back at me.” This “lifer” Saw-whet remained in the same spot all day, allowing neighbors and other birders to come up to it for a close look. (Marcotte diary entry)In a less expected place was a rare fall bird that “obligingly perched in a small tree . . . close to windows of the Schlegel Corp. offices at 400 East Ave. where it attracted the attention of several people,” John Brown reported. (BA, 18 November 1982) Tom Tetlow was driving along Janes Road on 21 January 1962 when “his headlights picked up a small owl sitting in the road. He stopped and walked up to within a few feet of it,” John Brown reported. It was a Saw-whet. (BA, 25 January 1962)This wasn’t the only road encounter with this species. Walt Listman, driving along the Lake Ontario State Parkway in April 1963, stopped to investigate “a small blob of feathers on the pavement,” John Brown related. “It turned out to be a sleeping Saw-whet owl, which awoke and flew off into Rose’s Marsh.” (BA, 11 April 1963) Unfortunately, during the first week of November 1989, no fewer than three were found killed by cars. “It is possible that these birds were going south on a northwest wind when the wind turned southwest, concentrating them along the lakeshore,” Dave Tetlow suggested. (LG, December 1989)
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