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Tawny owl's
surprise hoot |
5.04.1997
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Michael Woods |
I was quietly nodding off in the bright
sunshine after lunch when, among the mass
of birdsong, I became aware that a tawny owl had hooted. The
sound was enough to bring me out of my slumber and check
whether I had been dreaming.
I hadn't. The
full-blooded, quavering hoot of a male owl advertising its
territory was repeated several more times, Tawny owls are
the most nocturnal of our owls so these hoots were puzzling.
I decided, as I relapsed into lethargy, that there was no
particular significance to this behaviour. Diurnal birds
occasionally wake up and utter a snatch of song from their
night4ime roosts, so there was no reason why the nocturnal
tawny owl could not do the same by day.
But perhaps I am wrong in thinking that tawny owls are
strictly nocturnal. It is true that they are beautifully
adapted for hunting at night but they are not blind in
daylight, as was once believed. My owl's mate will be
sitting on their eggs and, when they have hatched, the pair
will spend long hours hunting to supply the nestlings.
As the nestlings' appetites increase, but the nights grow
shorter, the adult owls have to spend more time hunting by
day to meet demand. It is not surprising that even a high
level of diurnal hunting goes unnoticed. Tawny owls hunt
mainly by sitting on a perch and dropping onto prey, but
they will sit tight if they are disturbed by people
wandering nearby.
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