Family Friday: Owl Prowls

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer, what is a nature-starved family to do? Once again, Lucas Miller has the answer! This month he discusses how to go on an owl prowl with your kids. With a little preparation, warm clothes, and patience, you are sure to have a good time. And the possibilities for learning about the world around us are owl-t of this world!

This month we’re going to talk about owls.  Owls have fascinated and humans for millenia (they appear on many ancient petraglyphs and artifacts) but, with Harry Potter and a number of other children’s books featuring them prominently, they seem to be especially hip at this cultural moment.

Most owls are non-migratory so, even in the winter, you can still hear and even see them. Winter’s actually a great time to go on an “owl prowl” because you won’t have to keep the kids up way past bedtime since the sun sets earlier.

What do you need? First of all, dress for the weather; it’s no fun searching for owls if your ears are going numb (but try to choose clothes that don’t make a lot of noise, too).  Also, choose a calm night because the owls will be more active and you’ll be able to hear them better when they call. A night with a bright moon’s good, too. Bring a good bright flashlight but use it as little as possible; you’ll scare away the owls if you use it too much and you’ll actually be able to see a lot better if you let your eyes adjust to the darkness. You really don’t need to take along The Sibley Field Guide to Birds but you can bring it if you want. It’s going to be dark and, for the most part, owls are pretty easy to tell apart.

The last thing you’ll probably want, and those tech-savvy kids are going to love this, is an mp3 player and some portable speakers. No, you’re not going to introduce owls to hip-hop—you’re going to play some owl calls and use their territorial instincts to draw them in. Don’t worry, as long as you don’t do this for hour after hour or night after night, you’re not going to stress them out or cause them to move out of the neighborhood.

Where do you get your calls and which calls do you choose? You can do some research to find out all the owls that live in your area but, in urban settings, the common ones are the great horned, barred, Eastern screech, Western screech, saw-whet, and to some extent, the barn owl.

You can learn about each species at Owling.com. There are other sites with different recordings and it may behoove you to have a few variants on your player. Each owl has a page and includes calls which you can listen to and download. Right-click, choose “save target as” and put them all in a folder called “owl calls.” You’ll need to import these into your mp3/iPod software and you might want to put them all in a playlist (accidentally playing “Crazy Train” would be a naturalist faux pas).

If you think all owls go “who-whoo,” you’re in for a surprise. The Eastern screech sounds a whole lot like a horse and prepare yourself before you click the barn owl’s call—their blood-curdling shriek might scare your socks off! If you live in barred owl territory, I encourage you to save that call in particular—they’re very territorial and you should have an easier time calling them in. When they really get excited they can make all kinds of crazy sounds!

Oh, and if you’re good at imitating some of the calls and you don’t want to haul along the speakers and player, you can just try calling yourself—some owls are pretty easy to fool (I’m thinking of you, dear barred owl).

Before you head out the door, think about some different types of habitats in your neighborhood. Is there a stream in the area? Some owls prefer to be near water. Are there areas that are more open or wooded than the rest of the neighborhood? Is there a park you feel safe walking by in the nighttime? Is there pastureland and/or a barn nearby? A little research about the specific microhabitats the various owls in your area prefer can really pay off.

You can play the call every thirty seconds or so. Wait quietly and have everyone look in a different direction so you’re more likely to notice if an owl flies in to check things out. Listen carefully and try to be patient, give it a good 10-15 minutes before giving up. If you do spy an owl, it’s okay to shine that bright flashlight on them; you and your kids will want to get a good look at your avian neighbor! The owl probably won’t stick around for long so follow the famous birder’s aphorism—look at the bird NOT the book. Try to make as accurate a mental picture of the bird as you can. Then, when to you’re looking at the bird book (or computer) you’ll be better able to determine what you saw.

A note: most of us don’t spend much time outside at night and your kids may be fearful. That’s certainly understandable so try and focus on the excitement of the search and this may be an experience that, once they’re used to it, is a whole lot of fun. If they’re just too scared, don’t force it—the last thing you want to do is make a lasting, memory of fear. Also, you could just stay right there on your porch; you’d probably be surprised just how many owls are out there in your own neighborhood.

Be safe, of course, and have fun. Let us know what you heard and/or saw! And it might be a great night to read Owl Moon….

Lucas is a professional children’s author and songwriter from Austin, Texas. Check him out at www.lucasmiller.net.

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