Great Horned Owl and Chick Courtesy US FWS George Gentry, PhotographerNo, I did not hear the owl call my name- meaning my number is up and death is imminent according to some native tribes. But I do hear them call. The great horned owl is also referred to as the “hoot owl”. There are few owl species that hoot in our area, and those who do so are extremely rare.
Great horned owls are great in stature- second only to great grays among N. American owls. Further, they are fierce predators and valiant protectors of their young. Don’t mess with their nest!
Great Horned Owl Chick Courtesy US FWS Gary Stolz, PhotographerDue to its ferocious nature it is often referred to as the “Tiger of the Air”. When established in a territory, the Great Horned Owls drive other owls away, and may eat a few for good measure. They are both nocturnal and diurnal hunters, especially during the breeding season & when they are raising their young. They have a large variety of prey including insects, most small mammals including skunks, foxes, domestic cats, & birds up to size of herons and Redtail hawks. Its prey can often weigh up to 3 times the weight of bird itself.
Great Horned owls are often monogamous. They usually nest in old nests made by other raptors, often by Red-Tailed Hawks. They have been known to nest in caves, on cliff ledges, rocky outcrops and in cactuses. They usually start breeding very early in comparison to most owls, often from December to March when hooting reaches its peak.
Several American Indian tribes believe owls are associated with the souls of the dead. When a virtuous person died, they would become a Great Horned Owl. If wicked, they would become a Barn Owl. The Hopis Indians believed that the Great Horned Owl helped their peaches grow. They were believed to be a symbol of divine wisdom by Creek Indians.
I’m sure glad to have these divine, wise birds in my neighborhood! Great Horned Owl Courtesy US FWS, Karen Laubenstein, PhotographerJack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society, and I’m wild about Utah!
White Crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys Courtesy US FWS Gary Kramer, PhotographerTHUNK! We have all been startled by the loud thunk of a bird hitting a window. In the United States window collisions kill an estimated 1 billion birds a year with 44% of bird window collisions occur at homes throughout the year. So, changes made around your home can help maintain our bird populations.
What happens to birds that crash into windows? About half of them die immediately from head injuries, broken necks and internal bleeding. The other half may recover. If you see a stunned bird, move it to a safe space away from cats or other predators, or place it in or under a box. Try not to handle the bird and don’t give the bird food or water. In 10-30 minutes the bird will likely be recovered enough to fly away.
Why do birds fly into windows? Birds don’t see glass as a solid object. Birds see the window as an opening that they can fly through or the see reflections of sky and trees in the window
The USU Bird Strike Project has been doing research on bird window collisions on the USU campus for the past several years. We have found that the vegetation planted outside the window has a greater influence on window strikes than window area. You can prevent window strikes by not planting fruit bearing trees and shrubs or setting up bird feeders 15-45 ‘in front of windows. Small birds can reach speeds of 30 mph within 15’. So, put those bird feeders right next to the window or more than 45’ away.Bird Window Strikes
If you have a window that experiences frequent collisions, treat the window to convince birds that they cannot fly through that space. Raptor stickers are popular but ineffective. Birds don’t see the stickers as predators. Small birds do not want to fly through spaces that are smaller than 2” high and 4” across. The width is the most important measurement. You need to convince the birds that the open spaces are no larger than 4” across.
There are a variety of effective ways to prevent bird window collisions; some of these are available commercially and others are do-it-yourself. I applied Feather Friendly Design vinyl to my windows and it has been very successful. The home installation materials come as strips of vinyl with small squares about ¼” in size every 4”. The strips are applied to the window with a credit card, then you peel away the strip, leaving the small squares. A DIY version is to dip your pinkie finger in paint and apply it every four inches on your window. Bird Tape is available in strips that can be applied every four inches to your window. Another option is to hang paracord at 4” intervals in front of the window. Window screens will prevent birds from hitting windows and shades can limit the amount of reflection that birds see. The American Bird Conservancy website has even more options for homeowners.
Bird populations are under a number of threats from urbanization, climate change and introduced predators. Some threats, like climate change, are difficult to tackle. But preventing bird collisions is a relatively easy step we can all take to preserve our bird populations.
I’m Kim Sullivan of the USU College of Science and I’m Wild about Utah.
Rachel Sagers, Brinnlie Harward, Landon Keller and Haley Schmid with Dr. Kim Sullivan, Patterns of Bird Window Strikes on USU Campus and Physical Features that Increase Risk for Collision, Department of Biology, (Honors Program,) Utah State University, https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1829&context=researchweek
Lodgepole Pine stand Yellowstone Collection Courtesy US National Parks Service, Bob Stevensoon, Photographer October 27, 1988Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with fun or fancy things to say for the radio. It’s just a thing that happens. A Questionably Lodgepole Pine
When that happens, sometimes I’ll just go outside and pick something happening around me, or something I think of when outside and write about that. Sometimes or almost always, creativity for me is not clean-cut. It can be kinda formulaic: talk about things you see, feel, and think in a way that hopefully helps folks balance listening, their imagination, and hopefully hope all at the same time. It’s at least an ideal.
But sometimes instead what comes out when you’re outdoors, is stuff that is kinda dumb and pretty funny. Truth be told, I prefer dumb funny things. I think stuff that is funny is better than stuff that isn’t funny. Funny stuff is fun.
And so, here’s me sitting in a big gold puffy coat and well-napkined Carhartts in a foldable lawn chair under gray winter sky, and jack is happening around me. No birds tweeting. No fresh tracks. Not even no dim ray of sunshine. Just hands as cold as cold hands can be. Then I see a dead skyward and questionably lodgepole pine. I thought it could maybe have a second life as a flagpole, the name I thought it could be and all. And then I wondered…
If trees wove a flag
What color would they fly
Regardless I doubt they’d much care if it was green
Beings they’ve got no eyes
No eyes no ears no tongue no nose
Not even fully developed human hands which spring from their roots so
And then I thought…
If ducks could sing opera
Like dark Verdi arias
I think they’d quack less good
But dig in no less mud
No lips no fur lays eggs webbed toes
Brains like walnuts, only knows where south goes
And then…
If clouds could pick
What unit of measure that they preferred
I’d reckon volume’d be tricky
Be hard to pin down where the mass does now occur
No lungs no feet bring snow turns sleet
Don’t even got clocks to keep time.
And that’s where it ended. Stream ran Utah dry. And that’s ok.
And even though when I read what I wrote to my partner she gave me that look of, “you sure?” I couldn’t help but think, “yup!” so I laughed and smiled wide.
So here’s me saying to you that sometimes, when you go looking for inspiration about the world from that old all-about-us well that is the world, don’t turn up your nose on silly things. Funny things that pop into your mind, even if they are dumb. Because once, someone probably thought something wild and dumb that ended up being kind of neat. Or something that they thought about. And who knows, maybe one day we’ll have to ask ourselves again…
If trees wove a flag
What color would they fly?
Would they measure it in cubits,
Or some other unit from the sky?
What does ‘remote’ mean? Take a moment, if you will, and conjure a memory—to the most remote place you’ve ever been. Where are you? Why did that particular place come to mind? Was it the distance from cities and towns? Was it the absence of other people? Was it the darkness? The quiet? What makes a place “remote?”
This question has been tumbling around in my head for a while. So, naturally, I took to the internet for answers. A definition: ‘remote’—an adjective—“(of a place) situated far from the main centers of population; distant.” Seems straightforward at first, but the quality of remoteness is open for interpretation. I might argue, for instance, that Lhasa—the Tibetan capital of almost half a million people—is far more remote than the most isolated corner of Utah’s redrock labyrinth. Perhaps that’s an apples to oranges comparison, though.
Bear-shaped remote region in the Bear River Range Data and Photo Credit: Hunter BaldridgeThe Means family from Florida is trying to quantify remoteness and document the most remote place in all 50 states. Project Remote, they call it, defines remoteness as “the point that is the farthest straight-line distance from a road or city [or] town.” According to the Means family, Utah’s most remote location is deep in the High Uintas Wilderness–9.5 miles from the nearest road; a two-day trek from the closest trailhead.
Project Remote inspired me. Their definition seemed reasonable enough, but I was curious about whittling down the parameters of ‘remoteness.’ I wanted to identify the most remote location in Cache County, where I live; so, I reached out to USU Geographic Information Systems instructor, Shannon Belmont, who has been working on this question with her students for several years. As it turns out, the general consensus from Belmont’s class projects produced a fittingly bear shaped swathe of canyons and peaks in the high country of the Bear River Range as the most remote region in the county. There were dozens of other definitions offered through Belmont’s project, of course.
‘Remote’ seems a relative term—relative to the perspective of a traveler and their perceived distance or isolation from the center of whatever world is familiar. When avalanche danger in my home range subsides, I’ll click boots into skis and plow my way to the heart of that bear-shaped expanse of peaks and canyons, trying to find what ‘remote’ means there. Then, perhaps I’ll redefine the word entirely— changing it by season, mode of transport, or state of mind. Until then, maybe I’ll find an old tree to get lost in.
I’m Josh Boling, and I’m Wild About Utah!Defining Remote
