Barred Owls Survive a Tough Winter, But Are Reluctant to Nest

[Alfred Maley]

Last year was a poor mast year, with smaller numbers of mice and voles going into the Fall. That plus the olde fashioned Winter has put stress on Barred Owls. Typically this delays nesting, even putting it off to the next year.

Last week when we returned from winter quarters we discovered that the nest box in the yard was unoccupied, for the first time in 13 years. At first I thought the owls were dead, a meal for the Great Horned Owls. But some feeble calls from down in the ‘hood meant there were some owls still around.

Yesterday I tried calling “CHIPMUNK” to the English-savy Mr. Owl and miraculously, in early morning, he showed up on the deck and was rewarded with a couple of mice. This morning, both male and female owls were in trees by the deck as soon as the kitchen light went on. A small rat and two mice for each of them was sufficient to provoke Mr. Owl to burst into song.

Because female birds need to have a sufficient fat layer to withstand starvation episodes while incubating, they don’t lay eggs until they have the required fat levels. We hope that with enough rodents we can salvage the 2026 nesting season, an experiment in manipulating Nature that I don’t mind doing. Let the first person without a bird feeder cast the first stone.

Al Maley

Hampstead NH