Mme. Owl Spends the Day in the Next Box

Mme. Owl, in a move that I hope has nothing to do with impending eggs (it’d be about 10 weeks too early for eggs around here), spent the entire day of January 2nd, 2013, in the nest box, starting at 6:28 AM CST and ending at 6:01 PM CST. The movie below shows all of the portions that triggered automatic recording. (In future, I will allow movement in more of the nest box to trigger recording.)

January 2nd, 2013, 6:28 AM to 6:01 PM CST
706 MB MPEG-4 movie, of 47:47 duration.

If impending eggs aren’t the source of this daytime stay, it may be that one of the several construction sites up the block disturbed or destroyed her normal daytime roost, forcing her to seek alternate, but safe and familiar, accommodations.

The perch in the nest box continues to be a well-liked feature, as you can see, though I wonder if an adult screech owl would prefer that it was another half inch, or thereabouts, further from the far wall, to allow ample room for tail feathers, etc. With the floor of the box only measuring 8" x 10" (which is larger than the 8" x 8" usually recommended), I wanted to try the perch experiment, but keep it out of the way of normal owl business as much as I guessed was possible. However, the years have proved it is popular enough with adults and owlets alike that allotting it more space might be appropriate. And it's not merely a perch for the adults, or a climbing target for the owlets; both adults and owlets will hide beneath it when they feel threatened. It might provide very little protection, but it seems clear that any protection is immediately recognized as better than none.