Owls sing duets until eggs are laid

Valentine’s Day is well-timed for some of the first courtship displays of the early breeders — owls. Even with snow in the branches and blanketing the ground, hearts are all aflutter, and focused on bringing another generation into being.

You may hear a pair calling to each other at night, scoping out their options of where to have their nest. Both the males and females call, as if performing a duet. The males have a deeper voice than the females, and if you happen to hear a duet, you’ll be able to tell which one is the male and female without seeing them. In the mid-Hudson Valley, you may hear the barred owl’s call that sounds like it’s saying, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”; a great horned owl’s call that sounds like the owl call from most TV shows and movies that some say sounds like they are saying, “Who’s awake? Me too!”; the Eastern screech owl’s call that sounds like a trill or whinny; or possibly the eerie screech of a barn owl.

Once a nest site is settled on, the pair will set up their territory and continue to sing their duets until the eggs are laid. Nests can be located in a variety of places, but an owl doesn’t build a nest like many other birds do. It will use a hollow of a tree, an old squirrel nest, another bird’s abandoned nest from the previous year or a nest box. If you have a yard or neighborhood that would support a pair of owls, you can put up your own nest box, made to the appropriate size for the particular owl.

Barn owls are mid-sized, and as their name suggests, actually prefer to use existing structures. Nest sites are often reused year after year. They live in open habitats, such as fields, marshes, suburbs and cities. Barn owls are strictly nocturnal and prey primarily on small mammals, especially rodents, such as mice, rats and voles, and also rabbits. Squirrels and chipmunks are relatively safe, since they are active during the day.

Great horned owls are large and prefer areas with woods interspersed with fields, which includes orchards, suburbs and parks. They use nests built by other species, such as hawks, crows, ravens or herons. They will also use human-made platforms. They seldom reuse nests. Great horned owls are primarily nocturnal, but will also hunt in daylight. They prefer rabbits, mice, voles, ducks and geese. They will also feed on skunks, porcupine, house cats, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, other owls, hawks, crows, ravens, starlings and doves.

Eastern screech owls are small, prefer wooded areas with an open understory, which can include farms, suburbs and city parks. They nest readily in nest boxes and tree cavities. Screech owls are chiefly active at night, but will also hunt in daylight. They hunt small mammals, and once the weather warms, they will also feed on tadpoles, frogs, insects, crayfish, earthworms and insects.

Barred owls are mid-sized and prefer large tracts of forest, often near water. They nest in a nest box, an existing tree cavity or an abandoned nest of a hawk, crow, raven or squirrel. Nests will be reused year after year. Barred owls are active primarily at night, but also are commonly seen during the day. They eat a variety of small animals, including mice, voles, squirrels, chipmunks, birds up to the size of a grouse, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects.

The most a female owl will do to prepare the nest for the eggs is pluck some feathers from her own chest or crush some pellets (coughed up hair and bones of prey) to line the nest. The female lays an egg every day or couple days, and will lay one to six eggs (a barn owl will lay up to 18 eggs). The female will incubate the eggs alone and the male will bring her food regularly. If he doesn’t, he will hear about it! Rather than leave the eggs in the cold, the female will call to her mate loudly until he brings her food.

The eggs take about a month of incubation before they hatch (mid- to late March or early April). Chicks are born with down, but the mother will stay with them in the nest most of the time to make sure they stay warm. The father will bring food and the mother will pull the prey into small pieces for the chicks to eat. As the chicks grow larger, the mother will join in on hunting for the family and herself. If an early nest fails for any reason, the pair will often make another attempt later in the spring.

Shanan Smiley is a conservation biologist. Contact her at my valley@poughkeepsiejournal.com