Love the cuckoos too. Most of the locals here call them rain crows since the myth has it that they call before a storm. They do have an odd call. CCox, you think it's a sad one? I don't know, it always reminds me of sitting in a fishing boat with my dad years and years ago. A cuckoo would do its cuk cuk cuk ca ca kow kow kow thing and dad would say, There's a rain crow, gonna be good fishing today. Never seemed to really have a bearing on the good or bad of the trip but the call still reminds me of those days on the water with him. I discovered a nest on a rather low branch of a tree here years ago. For days all I would see was a bird butt sticking out one side, and from where I was standing it looked almost like a dove's tail but not quite. Then one day I saw the cuckoo fly to the nest. I'd never seen one before and was delighted but unfortunately I never did see a brood. We had a series of strong storms and had to bring in one of our tractors to clean up the snapped off trees. The stack with all its hot fumes and roaring deisel engine were still not enough to make that bird leave the nest and after the cleanup was done a tail could still be seen jutting out of the flimsy nest. Too bad the chicks never appeared. I always assumed a snake was responsible.

Thanks for the info Cyp. The pole does have all kinds of wires, telephone, electric, cable TV, and a big cable that stablizes the pole. It just seems as though it is so close to the pole that it is likely to have something to do with it. Electocution seems possible although I see birds on those wires all the time, and I suspect the GH owls sit there frequently because I hear pairs calling from the woods in back to roughly that spot quite often. I kind of thought geographically, the bird flu was probably out. I have never heard of owls really being big victims of West Nile either, but that doesn't mean they aren't. I thought that a bird like that may lose sight of a big obstacle (particularly one that sticks out in an open area) if it in the throes of a hunt. The area next to our driveway is open space on both sides. There are about 3 or 4 spruce trees spread over 350 feet of straight dirt drive. The open space on one side is left to grow all spring and summer and was recently mowed. The other side is pasure, so it makes up about a 2 1/2 acre treeless, non-lawn type area. We have added about 200 native berrying shrubs in the vicinity during the last year or two. I suspect there is plenty of good hunting out there in the way of skunks, rabbits, mice, etc. I've seen a fox hunting out there quite a bit also. When someone mentioned a long ear last night, I was beat and didn't check the size. It is a large bird. In fact, I would not want to mess with the likes of his talons. The amazing part is the size of his feet in general. I would say his legs are as widea as two of my fingers. They look formidable. Although it is very sad, it is so cool to be able to examine such an interesting creature up close.

An owl's eye is probably the most efficient organ of vision possesed by any animal. It has a visual sensitivity at least 35 times greater than ours, and possibly as much as 100 times greater. They can see well in both light and dark. They can't roll their eyes in the sockets because their eyes aren't round. They're more like tubes. To make up for that, they can rotate their heads maybe as much as 270 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees or more vertically. Owls also have great hearing. The "ear tufts" of feathers on top of their heads are not ears and have nothing to do with hearing. A bird's ears are holes in the sides of their heads, covered with feathers. Owls especially can hear high sounds like the squeaking of a mouse, or a mouse scurring across a field, twigs breaking, that kind of hunting noises. Do you know if there is anything I can do to encourage them to stay? Barred owls eat mice and other small mammals, as well as frogs, birds, and snakes. They can also wade into the water to catch fish. They like small prey they can swallow whole. Larger prey is ripped into chunks. They digest what is digestible, and cough back up and spit out a pellet of what is not digestible. Scientists examine those pellets to figure out their diets. CAN an owl kill a dog or cat? Oh my yes. Owls can and do attack, kill and eat small dogs and cats, although they prefer smaller puppies and kittens. It's not real common; it's not their food of first choice, but it happens once in a while. We had a Great Horned Owl in our last neighborhood that was killing feral cats -- according to an owl expert I talked with. Owls can swoop on their prey so quietly they take them by surprise; their feathers are fringed in such a way as to absorb noise. Owls usually behead their prey, and almost certainly eat the eyes first. So if you find a dead animal and the head and eyes are intact, it almost certainly was not an owl. A Great Horned Owl weighs about 4-5 lbs, and a grown Barred Owl is about the same I think, so it's not like they're going to fly away with heavy prey. The GHO is a little stronger than the Barred. The good news is they only hunt at night. So watch your small and baby pets at night and don't leave them out alone -- especially during nesting season when the owls have young to feed. Owls will attack a human too (not for kill/food of course), generally to scare you away from their nests. They have very nasty talons and can be very aggressive during nesting season so if they swoop you, stay out of that area after that for a couple of months. You might want to learn what months the Barred Owls nest in your area. I am not saying you should be terrified of owls. That would be silly. But you should have a healthy respect for them and some knowledge. Here, watch these daytime territorial attacks to see how brave and aggressive an owl can be... Fearless owl Here is a link that might be useful: Owl attack

Long-eared ... Great horned owls have a wider face disk and less cinnamon color on them. That "wide-eyed" surprised look is typical of long-eared owls. Comparison pic: