Eyes a Window to Hearing Loss? Feb 21, 2008
When Bala was working with barn owls, he realized that their pupils dilate in response to sound, and that the pupils responded in proportion to the volume of the sound. Bala said this is called an "orienting reflex response.". (MEDLINEplus)
Winter comes, winter goes Jan 27, 2008
Barn owls spend the winter down by the river, but the evening after the owl house was spiffied up, a pair of owls moved in. Last Friday, it was 60 degrees - and this was in the colder inland areas; temperatures along the coast have hit 70. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Wings soar over Elfrida Dec 27, 2007
Barn owls, hidden among the branches of desert willows, try to warm themselves in the sun ... In the southwestern corner lies a thicket of willows that provide shelter and roosts for 43 western barn owls, says Williamson. (Sierra Vista Herald, AZ)
Oregon Recreation Report Dec 8, 2007
Other raptors that can be seen on Sauvie Island include barn owls, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, American kestrels, and northern harriers. Viewing areas currently open to the public are Coon Point, the Eastside Viewing Platform and Rentenaar Road. (Albany Democrat-Herald, OR)
Sierra filled with ‘Wildlife Wonders' Nov 21, 2007
"We see the most interesting mix of birds," said Manning, who spoke about several instances that involved barn owls, short-eared owls and even a Merlin Falcon. "We have yet to see any condors," said Manning when asked if she had ever seen taken in one of the magnificent birds, whose wingspan can top 122 inches more than 10 feet. (The Union Democrat)
Wing watching - Birding blind offers unique place to watch wildlife Nov 17, 2007
The list includes bald and golden eagles, goshawks, rough-legged hawks, barn owls and gyrfalcons the world s largest falcon. Shrikes and longspurs are also around, he said. (Missoulian, MT)
Birds wing to Wavecrest Nov 15, 2007
In the evening, Jaramillo counted 15 barn owls. As many as 40 barn owls could have been in the area. (Half Moon Bay Review, CA)
Get to know the flora and fauna around Missouri Nov 10, 2007
Some may not think of barns, fencerows and crop fields as wildlife habitat, but barn owls and bobwhite quail would disagree. Properly managed, farms can provide homes for many of Missouri's wildlife. (Camdenton Lake Sun Leader, MO)
Watch with... Bill, Kate and Simon Nov 8, 2007
Next up, because I know you care, barn owls. Uh-oh, here comes the big brother who eat his little brother. (Guardian Unlimited)
Ecologists discover city is 'uber-forest' for big owls Oct 17, 2007
Bierregaards study has now found and monitored more than 200 nesting attempts by 78 different pairs in both suburban Charlotte and the surrounding countryside, but the project began when he first considered doing a study of barn owls, which are common in farm country, as a thesis project for a graduate student. A team of volunteers was necessary to support the effort and, unfortunately, they all lived in the city -- a long drive from the proposed rural study sites. (EurekAlert!)
Walk on the wild side Oct 6, 2007
Fenner said there have been reports of Barn Owls at the park, but these sightings have not been confirmed by the park staff. Park volunteer John Galbary there are many fall programs at Congaree National Park besides the Owl Prowl tour. (Orangeburg Times and Democrat, SC)
Chainsaw massacre Sep 25, 2007
We also have a pair of Barn Owls and a pair of Perigrine Falcons nesting in the area. Fantastic. (BBC News -- UK)
Infotainment Sep 11, 2007
The Barn Owls hearing is so highly developed that. A Romanian village has erected a 20ft high monument to an onion. (Daily Times, Pakistan)
Farmers are finding common ground -- owls Aug 5, 2007
Then came the peace treaty, Israelis and Jordanians got used to being good neighbors, and in late 2002 Aviel and fellow Israeli farmers planned a regional conference on barn owls to explain their advantages to colleagues across the Jordan River. The response was discouraging. (Boston Globe)
Hearing Skills Of Barn Owls Could Map Way To Find Problems In Humans Aug 4, 2007
The hearing precision that lets common barn owls find prey is helping researchers fine tune their quest to diagnose a variety of problems rooted in the human brain, not only with hearing but also with behavior and potentially damaged areas ... University of Oregon researchers have found that barn owls (Tyto alba) are better able to track changes in the location of a noise, such as that made by a potential meal, when the sound source moves horizontally than when the sound changes direction... (Science Daily)
Owls' ears map the world Aug 1, 2007
Barn owls are better at tracking sounds that move horizontally than those that move vertically, researchers have found ... Avinash Bala, a neurologist at the University of Oregon in Eugene, and his colleagues have used this response to monitor when barn owls (Tyto alba) recognize a new sound ... It's not clear why barn owls' hearing should be better in the horizontal dimension. (Nature News Service)
Port Colborne's Canal Days Brings History to Life with Famous Tall Ships and Family Festivities--from August 3-6, 2007 Jul 27, 2007
As well, a Birds of Prey exhibit offers photos with birds of prey and the opportunity to pet baby barn owls for a unique souvenir from Canal Days. About Port Colborne & Canal Days , situated on the Welland Canal and Lake Erie, annually celebrates the history of the region with a four-day Canal Days Marine Heritage Festival. (Yahoo News -- Press Releases)
Barn owl unites Israeli, Jordanian farmers Jul 17, 2007
Farmers using barn owls to rid crops of rodents ... Barn owls are helping Jordanian and Israeli farmers find environmental-friendly alternatives to rid crops of pests ... Then came the peace treaty, Israelis and Jordanians got used to being good neighbors, and in late 2002 Aviel and fellow Israeli farmers planned a regional conference on barn owls to explain their advantages to colleagues across the Jordan River. (CNN -- World)
Ground squirrel's nuts about tomatoes Jul 15, 2007
We looked in the direction the squirrel had come from, and saw, not a tomato field, but an untended table laden with baskets of fruit and vegetables -- an "honor system'' farm stand. As the squirrel scurried away, we wondered if the farm stand's owner would think that humans were ripping him off. Or, as John proposed, perhaps the squirrel had left a nut behind. This was after an encounter earlier with a lone coyote standing a short way into a harvested hayfield -- at about 4:45 in the afternoon... (San Francisco Chronicle)
An 'Owlkatraz' escape Jul 12, 2007
The Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation Service, which has about 100 volunteers and restores health to about 1,200 animals a year, set free 32 barn owls on Wednesday ... This bird was one of 32 barn owls banded and released Wednesday evening from Jennifer Brower's ranch in Selma by the Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation Service. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Homage to historic barns Jul 7, 2007
The cavernous loft, reached by ladder, was meant for hay storage, and previously abounded with barn owls, according to Helen Bachrach, former owner of Ellensburg Travel. The Bachrachs used to winter cows in the barn. (Ellensburg Daily Record, WA)
Notes from the underground Jun 17, 2007
The young barn owls that I talked about last Saturday have fledged, and nightly there are five owls outside the nest -- the youngsters taking short flights before returning to the wire, Mom or Dad perched on the pole above. All hell breaks loose when one of the parents swoops in with a morsel of dinner, although no one has lost footing in the commotion. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Rare bird is found thriving on Lanai Jun 11, 2007
" Once common throughout the islands, the petrels were decimated by such predators as cats, rats and barn owls, as well as by the loss of native habitats that the birds depend on for nesting. They had all but disappeared from Lanai by the 1980s. The birds spend most of their lives at sea, returning to land only part of the year to breed and to fledge their young. Even then, they return to the upland nesting areas only after dark and then fly to sea to feed before dawn. To study the elusive... (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Large colony of endangered birds found on Lana'i Jun 10, 2007
Ua'u were once common throughout the Hawaiian Islands but were decimated by the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, and barn owls, and loss of native habitats that the birds depend on for nesting. The petrels were common on Lana'i in historical times but had all but disappeared by the 1980s because of habitat destruction and predators. (Honolulu Advertiser)
Endangered bird found in large numbers on Lanai Jun 10, 2007
Once common throughout the islands, the petrels were decimated by such predators as cats, rats and barn owls, as well as the loss of native habitats that the birds depend on for nesting. They had all but disappeared from Lanai by the 1980s. (North County Times)
The season for mourning and singing and learning to fly Jun 10, 2007
The juvenile barn owls are coming out of their house in the late dusk. Not yet ready to fly, they thrust their flat cat-faces out of the round entrance hole before emerging to strut up and down the perch, flapping their wings as their parents swoop overhead or perch atop the pole and on an adjacent wire, watching their almost fledging offspring. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Natural celebrities: The true stars of reality TV Jun 8, 2007
The most optimistic BBC producer could not have anticipated the soap-style entertainment provided by the barn owls' nest in Cornwall's Gardens of Heligan, where a chick devoured his weaker brother last week. Further drama ensued this week when the father vanished. (Independent)
'Kitchen science' reveals dinosaurs died in agony Jun 7, 2007
She immobilized the bodies of badly injured barn owls and falcons from the raptor center, and their muscles and tendons didn't move. Finally, she bought two frozen quail from a commercial quail farm, thawed them, soaked them in a heavy salt solution, and observed their decomposing bodies for as long as two weeks. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Back to nature Jun 5, 2007
Part of the attraction of this wildlife version of realityTV is that viewers are on the edge of their seats, as they wonder whether Bill Oddie's barn owls will survive the season. But the appeal goes much deeper than that. (Guardian Unlimited)
The 'quintessential New Englander'Noted wildlife rehabilitator Jean Seward dies at 79 May 27, 2007
By Hoa Nguyen Staff Writer Published May 27 2007 As her health declined, most of Jean Seward's friends knew her days caring for wildlife and breeding barn owls were over ... While she accepted the fact she could no longer go out on wildlife distress calls, Seward fought to keep her barn owls, frequently prodding the state Department of Environmental Protection for permission to obtain a female owl to breed with the male owls she cared for on her Greenwich property. (Greenwich Time)
Death of lord who loved bats, brothels May 24, 2007
In Dorset, the 10th lord is remembered as a kind, paternalistic man, interested in bats and barn owls. But in Cannes, he is recalled for lavishing his fortune on young women and champagne in Riviera strip-joints. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Earl's third wife denies conspiracy to kill May 23, 2007
At the Shaftesbury family's 9,000-acre estate in Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, the 10th lord is remembered as a kind, paternalistic man, interested in bats and barn owls. But 600 miles away in Cannes they recall Le Lord as a very different man: one who lavished his fortune on young women and champagne in Riviera strip-joints, sleazy bars and nightclubs. (Guardian Unlimited)
Your Community May 16, 2007
They have planted numerous native plants and shrubs, fenced the slough to keep cattle away, and planted trees and erected nesting boxes to attract barn owls, osprey and numerous songbirds. For many years they ran a company in Linn County that created alternative uses for straw residue from grass seed production, designed to minimize field burning. (Albany Democrat-Herald, OR)
At Our Best: DeLander earns Eagle Scout Award May 14, 2007
They have planted numerous native plants and shrubs, fenced the slough to keep cattle away and planted trees and erected nesting boxes to attract barn owls, ospreys and numerous singbirds. The resultant diversity of bird life on this property testifies to the impact that people can make in managing their property, and it has made the Eichler farm a regular stop for the ASC Christmas Bird Count. (Corvallis Gazette Times, OR)
Oh, please, not summer quite yet May 13, 2007
As night falls, the Dipper is directly overhead and the barn owls begin their swooping flights -- back and forth from vineyard to willow tree to owl house, feeding their chicks. The evening air is balmy and alive with cricket song, accompanied by one bullfrog singing bass. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Last night's TV May 3, 2007
If your nickname is Barn Owl Bill, however, and your 70 things are - and you might have seen this coming - barn owls, you may consider yourself to have already arrived safely at Weirdsville and set up camp. Bill Hyam, one of the participants in Channel 4's documentary Animal Addicts, keeps six of the owls (and most of their excretions) in his front room. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Rats invade South Shores Apr 5, 2007
30-day news archives. Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or. (Florida Today)
Xcel hatches 'bird cams' for spring nest-watching Mar 22, 2007
The Owl Cam also features barn owls, which have returned to their nest box. Once these owls lay eggs, the camera will switch to record their nesting activities. (Denver Business Journal, CO)
The ten most endangered mammals Mar 14, 2007
Barn owls, introduced in 1949 are strong suspects in this potential extinction. 4. (Suite101.com)
BEES ON THEIR KNEES, GARDENERS TO THE RESCUEGarden blooms where dead lie in Sacramento Mar 4, 2007
If we used poisons, we wouldn't have our bees, our butterflies or our barn owls. " In the past, barn owls have nested in boxes in the elm trees that surround the cemetery, but most of the trees have been damaged by disease and will be removed. "I need to consult with Audubon about trees suitable for new boxes," she said, and added that birding is another activity that attracts people to the cemetery. Two birding tours are planned later this year. As for the gophers, Patrician has found that... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Tom Smith: Horse Whisperer to Hall Feb 25, 2007
Because he spoke less often than sleeping barn owls fall from their rafter perches, Smith became known as Silent Tom. But to horses, he spoke volumes. (Suite101.com)
Age is more than a number -- In barn owls, it reveals how susceptible one is to climate change Jan 11, 2007
Young barn owls waiting for the return of a parent with prey ... In the January issue of The American Naturalist, Res Altwegg (University of Cape Town and University of Victoria), Michael Schaub (Swiss Ornithological Institute and University of Bern), and Alexandre Roulin (University of Lausanne), examined temporal variation in survival and reproduction of barn owls in western Switzerland that had been observed over the past fifteen years. (EurekAlert!)
