All About Owls

In our last episode, we discussed how rodenticides, also known as rat poisons, can have a negative impact on our birds of prey. Today, we’ll be talking about Florida’s five resident owl species and how to identify them by the calls they make. These owls are valuable predators in our local ecosystems, both rural and urban, and can be easily identified with just a little practice.

Learn more:

• Watch our webinar: https://youtu.be/XhTFTNucDcw
• Commonly Confused Owls in Florida: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/polkco/2019/11/06/commonly-confused-owls-in-florida/ 
• Check out inaturalist.org for owls observed near you: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=21&q=owl&subview=map&iconic_taxa=Aves

Owl Calls:

• Great horned owl calls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/sounds
• Barred owl calls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/sounds
• Barn owl calls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/sounds
• Eastern screech owl calls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Screech-Owl/sounds
• Burrowing owl calls: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Burrowing_Owl/sounds

How You Can Help:

• Share what you learned with a friend!
• Consider adding habitat for our owl friends. See these links for nestbox plans: Eastern screech owl, barred owl, and barn owl
• Think carefully before using any rodenticides and try other methods of rodent control, first!

Sources for this Episode:

• Cornell's All About Birds website: barn owls, barred owls, great horned owls, Eastern screech owls, burrowing owls
  • FWC's Owl Pages - https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/#!categoryid=1149&subcategoryid=16772&status=

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend who might enjoy learning about Florida's natural areas and the wild things that live here!