Hi. Someone stated Barred owls are dense forest dwellers. Yes. But.... They
are the most common owl hit by cars. They are least bothered by human
activity and tend to sit on a tree by a roadside hoping for easy pickings.
They eat squirrels and frogs and snakes and even fish in addition to voles
and mice. If prey is too large they tear it up into smaller pieces. Helena
in Monkton who is caring for 4 Barred owls, all hit by cars. The four owls
eat 18 mice per day or 540 each month.

On Mon, Jan 25, 2021, 5:31 PM anneboby <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Maeve - at times raptors have to be opportunists re food availability.
> I've seen a Rough-leg competing with Co. Ravens for a road killed fox
> carcass at the Ft. Edward grasslands in Washington Co, NY adjacent the VT
> border. Not exactly their usual lemming Arctic fare.  I'll pass on the
> rabbit head thing as probable pure myth: normally rabbits are field
> dwellers, Barred Owls dense forest dwellers.
> Bob Yunick
> Schenectady, NY
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maeve Kim <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Mon, Jan 25, 2021 5:02 pm
> Subject: [VTBIRD] Barred Owls eating rabbits
>
> I’d always thought Barred Owls take prey they can swallow whole, so when
> we saw one in our driveway last winter, huddled over a rabbit, we thought
> it was just desperate because a hard coating over the snow was preventing
> it from getting to its usual prey. However, a friend e-mailed photos taken
> a few days ago of a Barred Owl eating a rabbit in their yard. He said he’d
> heard that the males of this species often use rabbits’ heads as courtship
> gifts. Has anyone else heard this?
> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
>