Introduction to Owls and Events

Jon Van Arragon

Beaverhill Bird Observatory

Introduction

• Owl monitoring is one of the most fun times to be a volunteer at the BBO, but also comes with unique challenges and differences compared to volunteering with our songbird programs
• During owl monitoring, the volume of birds is much lower. Many nights 5 or fewer birds are captured, whereas a morning of songbird banding will routinely catch 50+ birds!
• During owl monitoring, we also regularly host events with 20 visitors per night. This means things can be quite busy, even if we’re not catching many owls
• Before volunteering with owls, you should have volunteered for songbird monitoring several times to get familiar with bird handling and the operation of our banding station
• Owls have pokey talons which can cause injury, we want you to get very comfortable holding songbirds before attempting an owl.
• You also should have volunteered during at least 1 songbird banding event prior to volunteering during owls

What to Bring

• A headlamp is a must!
• A flashlight will do, but a headlamp is preferred
• A headlamp with a red light setting is best
• Warm layers, a toque, and gloves
• It is usually a few degrees colder at the station than the forecast for Tofield predicts, and the nets can stay open all the way down to -20°C!
• A travel mug for hot beverages

Events

• Owl events at the BBO are very popular!
• Events are held Thursday through Sunday most weeks
• Supper and Saw-whets is a popular event where we host over 50 visitors and provide a home-cooked vegetarian meal. It’s held on the Friday and Saturday of the last weekend in September
• During events, your role will be focused on event setup and cleanup, maintaining the drink/snack table, and helping to manage people
• During events, please ensure the hot water containers are full throughout the night. If they start to get low, heat up some more using the kettles
• We have an electric kettle for this, but may need use the stovetop kettle if our solar electricity is low
• Throughout the night, please also wash dirty dishes (thank you!)
• Once visitors have left, please help clean up the snack/drink table and help wash any remaining dishes.
• This is a huge help to the staff during busy events and your help is very much appreciated!!!

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Events

• Guiding visitors on net checks is a key responsibility on event nights
• You will stay near the rear of the group and make sure no visitors get tangled in the nets, lost or separated from the group during the net check.
• Depending on the route we take, when we are done checking the male owl nets, the whole visitor group will turn around. You will then lead the group back to the building.
• We only take 10 visitors on a net check at a time to reduce disturbance at the nets. You will be responsible for counting the group and ensuring proper group sizes.

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• You will also be responsible for scribing and will have the opportunity to learn to band, extract, and assist with nano-tagging.
• During events, you will also have many chances to chat with visitors about the BBO and about owls. Check out Shane Abernethy's Owl Interpretation Guide for some discussion points to hit when talking to visitors!

Scribing

• Scribing for owls uses the same digital data template as songbirds, so all the information in the BBO Scribing Guide still applies here!
• One added thing to worry about is molt cards
• During owl banding we record the exact molt pattern in the wings of any bird aged SY or older
• Each feather in the wing gets labelled according to which molt it was grown out in (juvenile, first basic, or second basic)
• For wings with multiple generations of basic feathers, we label them starting with B1 for the oldest generation of basic feathers, then B2 for the 2^nd oldest, and so on

Scribing

• This is an example of a properly filled out molt card. Note that we record the pattern on both the left wing and the right wing, because there can be differences between the two!
• Make sure it is clear where one group of feathers ends, and the next one begins, if it is ambiguous that can make it harder for us to enter the data later

Net Checks

• Like songbirds, the owl nets should be checked a minimum of every 30 minutes
• Keep your headlamp pointed at the ground (don’t shine them into the canopy) and your voice low to avoid scaring away owls while on a net check
• Watch your step! There are lots of roots along the trail which can easily trip you in the dark
• For events, you will be responsible for making sure visitors don’t get stuck in nets or lost in the dark

Net Checks

• If you catch a larger species of owl in the net (Long-eared Owl or larger), do not attempt to extract it. Radio a staff member for help right away
• In additional to owls, we also catch flying squirrels and bats in our mist nets on a regular basis. Both mammals should only be handled while wearing work gloves, as they can potentially carry diseases such as rabies
• Radio a staff member if you encounter either critter in the net and are not prepared or don’t feel comfortable handling it
• Flying squirrels often chew and destroy nets they get caught in. If you remove a flying squirrel from a net, carefully inspect it for damage. If a trammel line is broken, close the net for the night.

Owl Handling

• There are 3 grips used while handling Saw-whet Owls:
• Photographer’s grip
• Bander’s grip: note that for Saw-whet Owls you should have their legs restrained between your ring finger and pinky finger
• Reverse / popsicle grip: it is difficult to restrain Saw-whet Owl legs for banding from bander’s grip, instead grab legs between thumb and index finger, tail between index finger and middle finger, then wrap your whole hand around the owl’s back / wings (see the photo on the right, we will show you in person as well!)

Owl Handling

• Always have an owl’s feet under control!
• Saw-whet Owl talons hurt, even if they can’t seriously injure you.
• Owls should be extracted using the feet first method for this reason
• Larger owls (such as Long-eared Owls and Great Horned Owls) can cause serious injury with their talons and should only be handled by staff
• The grips for handling these owls are completely different than Saw-whet Owls, we can show them to proficient volunteers only if time and bird safety allow

Ageing

• Owls are very straightforward to age: molt limits in their wing are obvious and there are only a few patterns you need to know. These are covered on the next few slides
• If you ever are unsure if an owl has multiple generations of feathers in its wing, use the black light in the top drawer of the banding bench!
• Newer feathers will fluoresce bright pink, while older feathers will be mostly white. This occurs because owl blood contains a UV fluorescent pigment that degrades as the feather gets older and is no longer connected to a blood supply.
• Important note: always cover the owl’s eyes with a bird bag while doing this!

Thanks to UV fluorescence, we can see multiple different generations of feathers in this owl’s wing extremely clearly. This bird was aged as a third-year (TY) bird!

Ageing

• Hatch year (HY)
• One generation of flight feathers
• all flight feathers are a uniform “dark chocolate” colour

Ageing

• Second Year (SY)
• 2 generations of flight feathers
• inner secondaries and outer primaries are replaced basic (“dark chocolate colour)
• remaining feathers are retained juvenile (“milk chocolate” colour)

Ageing

• After Second Year (ASY)
• Multiple generations of basic feathers, but no juvenile feathers present

Photo credit: McGill Bird Observatory

Ageing

• Third Year (TY)
• 3 generations of feathers
• 2 generations of basic feathers in the wing
• at least 1 very worn juvenile feather (usually p1 and / or s1)

Sexing

• Male and female Saw-whet Owls look identical, so we rely on a combination of wing chord and weight to separate the two
• There is a chart in the owl binder containing wing lengths and weights, look for your owl’s wing length in the chart, then see what weights correspond to what sex
• If the wing length is off the chart (over 142 mm), it is assumed that the owl is female

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That’s All!

• Contact information if you have questions:
• Jana Teefy, Head Biologist: biologist@beaverhillbirds.com
• Jon Van Arragon, Assistant Biologist: assistant.biologist@beaverhillbirds.com