Tips for Today
Have you heard the owls hooting at night? On cooler autumn evenings, you can hear the owls calling out to each other.
Owls have many attributes that make them keen hunters in the night sky. Their feathers are soft and have fringed edges, which make them almost completely quiet when they fly to sneak up on their prey. They can turn their heads three-quarters of the way around, or 270 degrees in either direction. They have sharp talons and forward-facing eyes and mostly feast on rodents. Owls live in many habitats, including swamps, pastures, woodlands, marshes, and along coastlines. The Barred Owl (Strix varia), which is often active during the day, is the most common owl in Connecticut. Connecticut and Massachusetts have eight different kinds of owls. Mass Audubon has a great resource with facts about owls here.
If you’d like to learn how to build nest boxes and structures to encourage owls and other birds in your yard or in your community, use this great resource from CT’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) here.