We interrupt our usual “Bird On” advice this month to share some exciting news from the Maria Mitchell Association's Barn Owl Program. It posed a unique situation and opened up interesting possibilities for further research.
Thanks to some very understanding Tuckernuck homeowners and three volunteers from the Tuckernuck Land Trust, two young Barn Owls were banded on that island this month. An adult had found a pane of glass that had fallen out in a window and made herself at home, ultimately settling in an attic crawl space. When we came to band, the young could retreat down under the eaves, where it was impossible to reach them by, er, conventional means. But the home-owners said that the ceiling was due for replacement anyway, and authorized knocking out a hole. (Which turned out to be two holes, one on each side of the house.) With the help of a spotter in the attic, we located a site just above the owls' hiding places, and were able to safely extract them for banding.
Special thanks to Tuckernuck Land Trust's Coastal Steward, Skyler Kardell; Board Member, Joanne Coffin Johnsen, and Office Manager, Jennifer Ahlborn.
We are particularly interested in the movements of Barn Owls here in the northeast corner of their U.S. range. It will be very exciting if we get a return look at a band and can see if they are moving east toward Nantucket or west toward Martha's Vineyard.
In the images below you can see Ginger Andrews carefully helping the Barn Owl out of the attic eave.
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