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From: grp@unify.uucp (Greg Pasquariello)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: A Home for an Owl
Message-ID: <0w97k21@unify.uucp>
Date: 28 Feb 90 03:44:53 GMT
References: <14233@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Organization: Unify Corporation, Sacramento, CA, USA
Lines: 40

In article <14233@cbnews.ATT.COM> pmd@cbnews.ATT.COM (Paul Dubuc) writes:
>
>A small grey owl has recently taken up residence in my yard.  It's a
>North American Screech Owl.  I think it's quite wonderful for me, since
>I live in a residential area of the city where owls are not a common
>sight.  There's a problem, though.  It has apparently made its home
>in a hollow spot in an old and dying silver maple tree.  The trees is by
>the street and the city has marked it to be cut down.  I don't know how
>long the city will take to get to the tree (could be several more months).

[ text deleted ]

Try and keep the city away for a while.  This is the beginning of nesting
season, and it won't be long before the owl has a brood.  It may well have
a clutch of eggs already, although it's early.

Owls often use crevices and holes as roosts as well as nest sites, so it
may not be a nest.  But with spring approaching, why take the chance?

BTW: Screech owls are probably much more common in your area than you 
think, even if you live in a city.  In residential and suburban areas,
they are typically one of the most common raptors, although you would
never guess it.  I had many screech owls near my home in NJ, and it was
years (15+) before I saw one that I didn't have to go looking for.  Another
owl fairly common in residential areas is the great-horned.  If you have
any red-tailed hawks nearby, you probably also have great-horned owls.

>
>Any advice from those who know about owls would be very much appreciated.
>Thanks,
>-- 
>Paul Dubuc   |   The true light that enlightens every one
>att!asr1!pmd |   was coming into the world ...

-Greg

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Pasquariello	(916) 920-9092		grp@unify.UUCP
Unify Corporation				...!{csusac, pyramid}!unify!grp