Our owl numbers are increasing nicely, it is proving to be a great start to our year. Here are the last two nights of banding results:
October 13: 3 NSWO 1 HY, 2 AHY (2 hours)
October 15: 12 NSWO!!! 8 HY, 4 AHY (4.5 hours)
Catching owls, particularly in the numbers we do, results in those with some abnormalities. Here are two: a crossed bill which could be very detrimental to hunting, and one white talon, which is likely non-threatening in any way, just different. Steve King took this picture, from the left of the owl. You can see the long mandible.
from the right you see the crossed maxilla. The good news is this bird is at least 2 years old, so has learned to live with the challenge of an abnormal beak. Unfortunately beak abnormalities have increased since the 1990's and based on information found on the web about deformities: "in birds can be caused by many different factors, including environmental contaminants, nutritional deficiencies, and bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infections"(
http://www.utne.com/Wild-Green/Freakish-Bird-Beaks-Perplex-Experts.aspx.)." Other than our foreign recap from Montana, we have no idea where this bird came from.
Banders Mike and Raina photographed this bird with one white talon, which is likely non-threatening in any way, just different. Although it does appear to be longer than the black talons.
The more birds we capture, the more we are likely to see some oddities. We always discover something new!
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