Saturday, December 9, 2017

Thoughts on Owls

Owls seem to have intrigued and have inspired many. Perhaps it is because Owls are cute and curious, perhaps it is because they are awesome hunters, perhaps it is because they are seen less frequently than their diurnal raptor relatives, or perhaps it is just because Owls are awesome! They are used as education birds often after they get injured or imprint illegally to humans as babies and cannot return to the wild. A quick search on Google returned 132 million pages for "owls" whereas "warbler" returned less than 2% of that many.  There strong opinions on Owls seemingly disregard respect for others and completely ignore science. I realize there is still much to be learned, but I have a hard time believing that any personal opinion (without support) is more likely to be correct that scientific projects.  Yes I am biased toward science and data; if you don't know what bias is please look it up rather than ask! Anyways, this blog focuses on my personal thoughts toward owls as a birder rather than as a scientist.

Personal Opinion: Owls bring out craziness! 


The Good!


Owls are often spark interests in birds and nature. A kid seeing a white Harry Potter owl, also known as a Snowy Owl, may result in them caring about nature and birds the rest of their life!  I can remember the Snowy Owl that landed in a branch mere feet above my head while deer hunting one November in Minnesota; it was magical. I met an elderly gentleman that shared how he saw his first Short-Eared Owl just a month ago. I suspected his smile has not diminished in size upon telling the story.

The Bad! 


Owls spark an insane desire to see them that can be bad for the bird. The guilt is on many levels and should not be unfairly put on only one group. As a birder I suspect we have all been guilty of driving a car close to a perched bird only to have it fly off.  When I had a camera in my hand I was too often tempted to walk closer to perched birds, often resulting in them fly. I've unfortunately seen others do far worse; trespassing, repeatedly harassing the bird for a photo, and yes even baiting. It is my opinion that we should minimize any stress on birds.

My Takeaway


I share locations of owls to individuals because I still believe that people are good. Sometimes their actions afterwards result in my unwillingness to share any further information with them unfortunately. I don't post specific locations of owls publicly to eBird or to ListServs unless it is already there; thus I don't add more locations. I realize how tough this is for others to follow up on reports. Even in Olaf Danielson's big year he expressed frustration that the only ebird report for Northern Hawk Owl was at the county level (yes it was mine). That story had a good result because he went to the same location we saw it at anyways, he was the one that shared the location with us in the first place.  Alas I read repeated reports of ^$$%@&*s stressing birds in the north-woods to get their shot. It would seem that the value of a photo is much higher for the person taking the photo than for anyone else. Many of the best bird photographers offer travel trips (7 times as many results on google compared to warblers!) to pay their bills because making a living selling photos is very tough. If you read this far in the blog you likely already know my personal opinion; take a snapshot to remember the moment from a respectful distance. Celebrate any good fortune if a bird flies toward you and offers the perfect photo but be willing to go home without the money shot. Share the photo we love seeing them. Lastly, don't pretend that you found a bird without help of others if you relied on them. That last one makes you seem ungrateful, personally I am quite thankful that others have kindly shared locations to check and I hope that I have respected the birds.

D34_2935
2 of 7 Short-eared Owls seen tonight in Miami County. 

1 comment: