Mobbing In The Animal World
By Kimberly J. Epp
A murder of crows COULD mean murder if a Great Horned Owl had it's way!
Crows often mob Great Horned Owls because Great Horned Owls can prey on them. I mean really, HOO wants a predator in their territory? Not this curious corvid!
They will continually try to keep the owl(s) awake or annoyed by mobbing them, hoping they will eventually move away from their territory. The owl, however was in the territory first as the owl is a year-round resident. The crows, on the other hand, are just arriving back in the Spring. They are one of the first birds to return.
The owls will opportunistically hunt the young of the crows, however they could easily take an adult as well.
A good way to locate these owls is by watching and listening for the racket made by the crows. The owls get a break at night, however, as crows are diurnal. At night, the owls go to the nearest trees to relax. Well, actually when the sun goes down they start to vocalize. They are primarily nocturnal hunters, but also opportunistic and will hunt at any time of the day to feed a growing brood. I once observed a Great Horned Owl snatch 2 muskrats one day, morning and again the afternoon, while I was teaching students at Beaver Creek.
On Sunday, March 17th, a group of 9 from the Moose Jaw Nature Society headed out to a farm near Tuxford to go view and photograph the owls.
Right from the start we viewed the owls, although they did move to farther trees due to the noise. Remember, these owls can hear a mouse under the snow from a kilometere away. One participant got close enough to get some photos, and to view the crows mobbing one of the owls. As with most males in the animal kingdom, their job is to detract predators away from the nest. So this was likely to be the male who was being mobbed. We viewed the owl and crows a number of times, then a most beautiful sunset. As we were getting ready to leave, the owls began to hoot to one another.
Great Horned Owls do not build their own nests. They use the discarded nests of other raptors, or even old crow nests.
These owls are the first birds to mate, in January. They are the first birds to nest, and most should be on their nests by now. As we mostly just saw the one owl, it is likely the other owl was on her nest. She will incubate her eggs for about a month, and the owlets will stay in the nest until they are 9 weeks old. It is important to say that if you are out photographing these birds, please stay away from the nest. Unless you have the equipment where you can stay a distance away, these owls don't need humans to mob them as well.
A reminder that the Moose Jaw Nature Society will be hosting a Nature and Wildlife Photographer, Bob Schultz this Friday at 7:00 pm at St. Mark's Church.
Bob has taken a wide array of owl shots as well, so come hear some of his tips, tricks and adventures from out in the field. One has to remember that the wildlife won't come to you. You have to be patient and quiet - and most naturalist and photographers spend hours a day in the field. Those great photos you see of wildlife usually take hours to days to get.
Epp is an Environmental Educator and Writer and is also the Field Trip Coordinator and President for the Moose Jaw Nature Society. She can be reached at kepp@shaw.ca.