[obol] Impacts of Pygmy-owl calling

[John Deshler]

I can't speak to the effects of calling other species,
but I am intimately familiar with the impacts of
calling pygmy-owls during the breeding season which is
beginning very soon.  So below are some qualitative
statements, not quantitative ones as Kyle requested.

When an adult male pygmy-owl hears a human imitating
its call within its territory during the breeding
season:

1. The male pygmy-owl may intially respond on and off
for up to 6 hours. 

2. The owl will likely be subject to bouts of mobbing
by other birds, sometimes larger than itself. Those
bouts may last for an additional 2 hours after the owl
has ceased responding.  During the first 6 weeks of
the breeding season the owl is likely to try and stay
put and endure the mobbing in order to defend the
location.

3. The pygmy-owl is likely to return to that same
location for several more days, sometimes for a full
week, in defense of its territory, even though the
imitation call was given only on the first day. I
experienced this on at least 3 occassions.  These
locations were not close to the nests.

4. Because the pygmy-owl responds from the tops of
trees it does not appear to distinguish a human-made
call from the real thing, at least in a dense forest. 
Even repeated exposure doesn't diminish the response,
at least early in the breeding season.

5. Pygmy-owls collectively fall silent as soon as
they've got a mate and worked out their boundary
disputes with their neighbors.  This can happen by
early may.  Once the eggs have hatched (mid May-ish),
the male may give no response, or respond only briefly
and only at a distance.  But even after all the
pygmy-owls are quiet, a human can still get the owl to
respond if they try hard enough, and still subject the
owl to intense bouts of mobbing etc

Pygmy-owls are tough and can indeed take care of
themselves, but they also fall prey to hawks and other
owls and are killed by cars and building windows
during movements.  The hunches (which are definitely
not theories) I've read on obol that calling owls only
bothers them for a few minutes or that it is justified
for some obscure conservation impact sound like
run-of-the-mill rationalizations.  People tend to call
pygmy-owls to get to see all the small birds by
getting them to alarm and move closer.  Then with some
luck one might also see or hear a pygmy-owl.  It is
cool, it is fun and it's a great way to impress
friends and add excitement to a bird outing.  But it's
not good for pygmy-owls.  
  
John Deshler
Stumptown



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