West Drive Eastern Screech-Owls Early 2006

Introduction

Over the last year, I've photographed a pair of Eastern Screech-Owls (Otus asio) living in a tree cavity along the West Drive of Central Park.  The owls only use this cavity between November and April each year, returning to tree branches in the warmer months.

Eastern Screech-Owls were re-introduced to Central Park after an absence of about thirty-five years as part of a controversial biodiversity project called Project X.  For the most part, this program was a failure, and has been deemed by some to be more about politics than science.

I first photographed the owls when I started birding in Central Park in the Spring of 2005.

This blog follows the owls in detail from mid-February through early April of 2006.  Concerned that publicity could be harmful to these birds, I choose to delay making these blog entries public until after the birds left the cavity.

The story has an unhappy ending, revealing one of the realities of nature, birds have an incredibly high mortality rate.  For Eastern Screech-Owls in a wild environment, this is a 70% mortality rate in the first year of life and a 30% mortality rate thereafter. (If you're looking for a happy story, you may not want to read further.)

These photographs were all taken with natural light.  Advances in digital photography make it possible to take pictures in very low light.  The photographs were taken with either a 400mm or 500mm lens at distances of 50-200 feet. 

As the nights darkened, natural light sometimes was replaced by orange street lamps.  You'll notice some color shifts in the photographs.  To have avoided this completely, I would have needed to use flash.  I decided that I would rather have the color shifts than risk disturbing the owls with repeated flashes.

Thursday, 2-16-06

The owl we assume is the male will spend about thirty minutes standing in the cavity before flying out for the evening. Tonight, we got to see his wonderful white patch.

 

The female, who has a ligher and more visible beak (something we've begun to call the bucked tooth), flies out right after the male without almost no delay.

Friday, 2-17-06

Tonight for the first time, the male stayed nearby and allowed me to take a number of pictures of him post fly out.

Monday, 2-20-06

The male wakes up and gives us a nice view of him before flying out for the evening.

We get a great look at his foot before he flies out.

The female pops up right after the male.

After seeing her give us the same expression day after day, we finally get to see something different tonight.


The male is quite obliging this evening and poses for lots of photographs.

Wednesday, 2-22-06

Tonight after the fly out both after hearing a brief wonderfully soft song, we got to see both owls come together before flying out into the night.

Friday, 2-24-06

On Friday evening we had quite a scare.  The male Eastern Screech-Owl ran into a car while flying out.  Quick thinking by Lee, stopped another car from running over him.  We all felt that he was dead as he lay motionless on the road, but like Lazarus, he quickly arose and flew off into a nearby bush.

He stayed put and recovered from the shock for a long while as we all worried about him.  Then he flew off to a nearby branch and then soon he was off north out of sight.  His flight pattern seemed normal, but we continued to worry about him as we left the park.

Just before the fly out.

After hitting the car and flying to a nearby branch.

Saturday, 2-25-06

I was the first to arrive at the fly out on Saturday afternoon.  I was relieved to see the Eastern Screech-Owl, who was almost run over by a car on Friday, standing in the entrance to the tree cavity.

After the problems of Friday, the fly out was back to a later time.  But something new occurred, the two owls jockeyed for position.  When it came time to fly out the owls switched places a few times, before the male left followed by the female.

He looked just fine after his close call of the earlier day.

Hey, it's not your turn yet.  She didn't manage to take his place.

He kept his position.

But then she did trade places.

He gets back in place and they flies out.


She flies out second.

The male looked great on a low branch near his tree cavity after the fly out.  He stayed a good long while before flying off for the night.  He looked extra cautious and it seemed very reasonable.

Sunday, 2-26-06

On Sunday it felt bitterly cold, (25F with 25MPH winds).  It took awhile for an owl to appear in the hole.  The first sighting was around 5:45 p.m.  As on Saturday, there had a jockeying for position with the two owls exchanging spots before the fly out.

We also got to see the two of them together twice, a rare event. Quite a change from the earlier behavior of 30 minutes of one followed by 2 minutes of the second!  Tonight, we also had the first observation of the owl who usually files out second, flying out first.

The owl we assume is the male appears at 5:45 later than normal, but not unexpectedly due to the cold weather.

The owl we assume is the female.

Both adults.

There really are two adult owls in there.  (The quality of these photos are less then I would have liked but the wind and the cold made it very difficult on Sunday.  My camera was vibrating on my tripod and my batteries were failing due to the cold.)

The female stays close by and allows me to photograph her this evening.

Monday, 2-27-06

On Monday, only the female flew out.  Concern mounted about the male's health.

Tuesday, 2-28-06

Again only the female is spotted flying out.  She hunts about 100 feet north along a stream bed this evening.

Wednesday, 3-1-06

The third night of only the female.  Was the male badly injured?  Did we get the sexes wrong and are they nesting?  A mystery.

Lots of preening this evening.

She lands on the wall that separates Central Park from the city, and goes into the city to hunt this evening.

It was a crisp winter evening.

Thursday, 3-2-06

The mystery of the missing male continues.

The female flies out, but what is that shadow left behind.  Is our Male back?

Friday, 3-3-06

The female.  Still no sign of the male.

Who's this?  I just dismiss it as a blurry image of the female.

The female by streetlight.

Lots of preening before flying off.

Her bucked tooth beak.

Saturday, 3-4-06

Bittersweet Solution To Our Mystery.

Our second adult is still missing but we now understand the shadows and second owls we saw Thursday and Friday.  Photographs and video revealed that there at least two hatchlings in the cavity today.

Mother with child.

Sunday, 3-5-06

Early in the morning this European Starling was trying to move into the owl's cavity.

Still no sign of the father, but lots of pictures of the mother and her children in the late afternoon.

Monday, 3-6-06

Tonight, we all arrived after about 5:45.  We only saw one child, with no sign of the mother.  She may have left early to get a head start on feeding her children all by herself. 

Tuesday, 3-7-06

I couldn't go to the fly out today but got this report from Jean...

"The little cat-faced owl, the one we've been calling "she," was in doorway of hole as usual when I got to the tree at 5:40. Richard had been there for 10 minutes already, and said he had seen her earlier in the afternoon as well. She was fairly deep in the hole, only the head showing, with chin resting on sill, until right at 6:00 one of those street-sweeping machines went by slow, roaring, the vibrations must go right up the trunk and she immediately stood up, one foot draped over the edge. Flyout was about 10 minutes later, very low, and slightly more southerly than usual.

There was a small group of watchers by then  Liz, Martha, Gabriel and one or two others and everyone kept a pretty careful watch on the hole, waiting for owlets to show, but no one saw any movement at all. People began to head for home around 6:30, Liz and I stayed another 10 minutes, then took a little walk around by the horse path to listen for possible fledgers hissing for supper: nope, pretty quiet. General feeling is they're too young to be out yet....

Oh, by the way  remember that afternoon when the Cooper's Hawk hit the streetlight, and we thought she might have caught something? Well, somebody does live in that lamp, though don't know who  saw just a quick sparrow-size movement out of corner of eye."

Wednesday, 3-8-06

A quiet evening with only the mother being seen.  Fly out was at 6:10.

Thursday, 3-9-06

An uneventful evening, with the mother being the only one seen.  Hopefully, it's just the noise from the traffic, and nothing else that's keeping us from seeing glimpses of the kids.

Friday, 3-10-06

Uneventful fly out this evening.  No sign of the kids. The female had been basking in the sun and warm weather all afternoon according to Cal.

I think I got the first shot of what looks to be a band this evening.

Saturday, 3-11-06

Saturday's fly out was very predictable with no sign of the kids.

After the fly out we had a surprise, she went to the top branches of some very high London Planes and called for her mate.  I was sad to hear, as there was no response like we had so sweetly heard a few weeks earlier.

Sunday, 3-12-06

I was unable to make the fly out, but reports are that it was what we've come to expect these last few evenings, with only the mother making an appearance.

Monday, 3-13-06

Just the usual.  Only the mother was visible this evening.

A streetlight over Central Park West.

The tree limb choices have been much higher the last few evenings.  We've been wondering if there are insects and/or budding branches that are attracting the owl to higher perches.

Tuesday, 3-14-06

I wasn't able to view the fly out, but Jean reports that one owl flew out around 6:15.  There was no sign of the kids this evening.

Wednesday, 3-15-06

Late 6:21 fly out.  Only one adult seen.  After the flyout, lots of activity in high tree branches with calling songs.

Thursday, 3-16-06

Tonight follows the pattern of the last few nights.  Only the female being seen, late fly out, and lots of calling and movement high up in the trees.

Another night where we don't see the kids.

She spent 45 minutes calling in this tree.  Is she calling for her mate or encouraging her children to fledge?

Friday, 3-17-06

6:26 fly out, behavior almost identical to Thursday.

Saturday, 3-18-06

Yet another day with only the mother being seen at fly out.  Birds have very high mortality rates.  As each day passes, we realize we must consider that it is more than likely that the father has passed away and that the mother was unable to raise her chicks on her own.

Sunday, 3-19-06 through Saturday, 3-25-06

This week continued with the same regularity as the previous week.  Only one owl, which we presume to be the female, was seen.  As the days get longer, the fly outs are now around 6:25-6:30 p.m.

If the young survived single parenthood, they should have fledged by now, so at this point we must assume the father perished a few days after his automobile accident, and the hatchlings five to seven days later.

The female was observed in the Ramble on Saturday, catching and eating a mouse.

Sunday, 3/19/06, just before fly out.

Wednesday, 3/22/06, just before fly out.

Friday, 3/24/06 about twenty minutes before fly out.

Sunday, 3-26-06 through Saturday, 4-1-06

Sunday was a fairly standard fly out.

Monday, an Eastern-Screech Owl and a Saw-Whet Owl were found dead in the park.  The Eastern-Screech Owl was banded.  Our owl takes a long time to appear which starts me worrying.  She finally appears around 6 p.m.

On Tuesday we learn that the Eastern Screech-Owl found dead was a Red Morph.  Sadly, this means the Eastern Screech-Owl we're watching may now be the only one in the Southern section of the park.  This evening we are led by constant calling on a long trip up into the Humming Tombstone area of the Ramble.  It looks like the owl is insect catching (moths?), high in the upper branches of budding trees.

Wednesday, she quickly gives us the slip.

Thursday, her standard perch, then her next favorite perch and then she give us the slip.

Friday and Saturday, I spend in other areas of the park.

Sunday, 4-2-06 through Saturday, 4-8-06

I was only able to watch the fly out on two nights this week, Monday and Tuesday. 

On Monday, it rained and there was no sign of the owl.

On Tuesday, there was a standard fly out and two brief stops before flying off to hunt for the evening.

Soon the owl will be leaving its cavity for the summer to spend the warmer months in tree branches.  Last year they left around April 20th.

We also learned this week the fate of the Red morph Eastern Screech-Owl found dead last week.  It has been attacked by another animal, possibly our West Drive owl.  (The fate of the Red morph's mate, who disappeared this winter while the Great Horned Owl was around is still a mystery.  Many suspect that he was attacked by the Great Horned Owl, but I suspect we'll never know what really happened to him.)

Sunday, 4-9-06 through Wednesday, 4-12-06

I wasn't able to make the Sunday fly out, but reports were that the owl flew out on schedule.

On Monday, there was no sign of an owl, just European Starlings hovering about the hole.  We hope that this only means that the surviving adult Eastern Screech-Owl is now sleeping in tree branches now that the trees have leaves and the weather is warmer, and that nothing has happened to the owl.

On Tuesday, European Starlings were seen in the cavity early in the morning.  By mid-day a dead owl hatchling was visible at the edge of the cavity.  The park dispatched a "cherry picker", and a second dead hatchling was discovered in the cavity.  Both bodies were badly decomposed.

On Wednesday, a park employee found a third hatchling on the ground near the owls' tree.  I went to the tree and the surounding area in the evening to look one more time for our adult owl.  It was nowhere to be found, which may be good news not bad.

So, a winter season of Eastern Screech-Owl watching ends with sad results in the southern portion of the park.  The season started with four adults, two in the Ramble and two along the West Drive.  It ended with only one adult and a death toll of three adults and three hatchlings.

Saturday, 4-29-06

Our gray morph West Side owl may have moved to the Ramble, in an area that used to be the territory of the now deceased red morph owl.  This makes it possible, that given the autopsy results of the red morph, which cited cause of death as an attack by a raptor, that the Eastern Screech-Owl in the Ramble was the red morph's killer.  This story continues to have unexpected twists and turns.

Fly out (or it now fly off, now that the owl is sleeping out in the open) was at 8 p.m. sharp.