Newsgroups: rec.birds
Path: utzoo!steve
From: steve@zoo.toronto.edu (Stephen Smith)
Subject: Re: bird feeding station
Message-ID: <1991Apr19.215121.27511@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 1991 21:51:21 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

Sheri Hastings (hastings@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov):
+--
| We already have some horned owls nesting (I think) in some big
| canary pines. Can anyone tell me anything about these birds?
+--

Tom Fisher (tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU):
+--
| They love to eat small animals - maybe even cats :-)  :-( !
+--

John Shipman (john@nmt.edu):
+--
|I've heard that Great Horned Owls regularly catch well-fed suburban
|cats in the wealthy Bay Area suburb of Los Altos Hills...
|
|Another interesting fact about this species of owl is that it is
|*the* major predator of skunks...
+--

There are a number of Great Horned Owl roosts in a local Toronto ravine
which I've been snooping about of late. These sites represent the work of
at least 8 owls. By far the most abundant prey item found 
seems to be rock dove, with mourning dove a close second. This evidence
is from both pellet analysis and butcher-block leavings. 

After doves, meadow voles seem to be the next abundant prey item. Other 
animals having the misfortune to cross the palate of this gang of gourmands 
are: deer mice, short-tailed shrew, crayfish, a salmonid (really), 
crow (touche), woodpeckers, and something that had a skull distressingly 
screech owl-like. As the same local has skunks, cottontail, and house cats, I 
assume they also have been ticked off the owls' eat-it list - I've just 
never found the evidence.
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-- 
+==========================================================================+
+     Stephen Smith || uunet!attcan!utzoo!steve  steve@zoo.utoronto.ca     +
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