[obol] Newport Burrowing Owl Released in Lincoln County on Jan. 5

[Range Bayer]

    The Burrowing Owl found in Newport in November and captured by the
Oregon State Police and volunteers in mid-December was released along the
Lincoln County coast on Friday, Jan. 5.

    Burrowing Owls were first recorded in Lincoln County in 1969.  They
were found mostly in the 1970's and have been rare thereafter.  The
previous record was in 2002.

    Burrowing Owls have migrated on their own to the Oregon coast in
winter, so their occurrence in Newport is not extreme and does not require
transport by a human vehicle.  The 2003 "Birds of Oregon: A General
Reference" states that Burrowing Owls are a "rare annual visitor to the
Willamette Valley and s. coast, especially during winter."   Alan
Contreras's 1998 "Birds of Coos County, Oregon" indicates that they are "a
rare but regular winter visitor" to Coos County.

    The Newport owl was captured because of concerns about its health, its
proximity to foot and vehicular traffic, and especially its tameness.  The
owl became too tame for its own good.  People were attracted to it by its
cuteness and the perception that it was hundreds of miles from its home and
was a victim of being transported here by truck.  There was a report that
it was fed mice, so it may have learned to associate people with food.  It
is not recommended to feed bears and raccoons because they can learn to
associate people with food, and feeding owls may also tame them.

    The Newport Burrowing Owl was often seen standing during the day, so
some people may have thought it was unable to hunt.  In general, Burrowing
Owls can catch insects during the day and mammals at night.

    Some observers were concerned that the Newport Burrowing Owl had a bad
leg because it was mostly seen standing on one leg.  But one observer saw
it change legs.  In general, birds can stand on one leg and tuck their
other leg in as a way to reduce heat loss, analogously to when we stick our
hands in our pockets when they are cold.

    The Newport Burrowing Owl did not have a healthy wariness of people.
The Oregon State Police said that if it had been more elusive while it was
being captured, it would have been left alone.  A lack of wariness in wild
animals can be a result of illness, but in this case, it was a result of
becoming too tame, perhaps from being fed.

    After capture, the Burrowing Owl was taken to the volunteer-based
Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center near Corvallis.  Chintimini
provides care for approximately 700 animals a year at an average cost of
nearly $100 per animal (http://www.chintiminiwildlife.org/) that donations
and memberships help pay.  Chintimini's Executive Director Jeff Picton
noted that they could not find anything wrong with the owl and that after
arrival it "is eating and flying fine and is very feisty."

    Chintimini continued to monitor the owl's health and care for it
until it was released.

    Chintimini's Jeff Picton and Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife's (ODFW)
District Wildlife Biologist Dr. Doug Cottam consulted Oregon State
University researchers, biologists, Range Bayer of Yaquina Birders and
Naturalists, and others for a suitable site to release the Burrowing Owl.

    The release site was in an area where a Burrowing Owl has been observed
in the past in Lincoln County and in a habitat like where they have been
reported in winter on the southern Oregon Coast.  The site was also away
from people, parking lots, and roads.  The owl was released by Chintimini's
Jeff Picton near cover.  It then found shelter from weather and predators
and where it could also safely survey its surroundings to hunt on its own.

    The owl was not released at the Newport site where it had been before
because of foot and vehicular traffic there.

    The Burrowing Owl may move from where it is released.  If you see a
Burrowing Owl in Lincoln County in the next few months, please do not
publicize its location and please do not approach or feed it.  Please
contact Range Bayer (541-265-2965, rbayer at orednet.org) or Tami Wagner
(Tami.E.Wagner at state.or.us) or Dr. Doug Cottam
(Douglas.F.Cottam at state.or.us) of the ODFW (541-867-4741).

General Guidelines about Human/Wildlife Interactions:
1)  Leave wildlife wild.  Do not assume that a tame bird or a rare bird
needs help.  Too much human contact with a wild animal is not healthy for
the animal in the long-term.

2)  Do not feed owls because they may become too tame for their own good.
Feeding raccoons and bears creates problems for the animals as well as
people, and feeding owls can make them not have a healthy wariness of
people and to be too dependent.  (Also see "Please Don't Feed the
Waterfowl"
[http://www.audubonportland.org/livingwithwildlife/brochures/Waterfowl] by
Portland Audubon Society and "If You Love Them, Please Don't Feed Them"
[http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/coast&ocean/sparchive/FEEDM.HTM] by
California Dept. of Fish & Game wildlife biologist Ron Jurek.
     Feeding hummingbirds or seed- or suet-eating birds is unlikely to hurt
them, if feeders are kept clean to prevent disease.  But feeding can hurt
other wildlife--see links by Google searching "don't feed wildlife.")

3)  Leaving wild animals alone is not just the law, it is a good way to
protect animals and keep them wild.  Oregon Revised Statute 498.006 states
that "no person shall chase, harass, molest, worry or disturb any wildlife
except while engaged in lawfully angling for, hunting or trapping such
wildlife."
    Please view a wild animal without disturbing it (e.g.,
http://www.orednet.org/~rbayer/lincoln/ethics-b.htm).

4)  Most often, if an animal is healthy, it is better to leave it in the
wild.  If an animal is clearly injured or unhealthy, then human
intervention may be required.  But intervention poses its own issues.
Tameness does not necessarily mean that an animal is sick--it may just lack
a healthy wariness of people.  If it becomes too tame, intervention may be
necessary to protect it from people.


Range Bayer, Yaquina Birders and Naturalists, rbayer at orednet.org,
541-265-2965