From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Fri Oct 3 23:57:26 2003 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h946tCIC018604 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 3 Oct 2003 23:55:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mtiwmhc13.worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc13.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.117]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h946seZP018563 for <[[email protected]]>; Fri, 3 Oct 2003 23:54:41 -0700 (PDT) Received: from hal2003 (88.dallas-34rh16rt-tx.dial-access.att.net[12.87.11.88]) by mtiwmhc13.worldnet.att.net (mtiwmhc13) with SMTP id <20031004065437113007mog1e>; Sat, 4 Oct 2003 06:54:38 +0000 Message-ID: <002c01c38a44$5fc45f20$580b570c@HAL2003> From: "John Mariani" <[[email protected]]> To: <[[email protected]]> Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2003 01:54:35 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.2+ Subject: [SBB] Saw-whets, Pygmies, & Rodents X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2+ Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by plaidworks.com id h946tCIC018604 Howdy South-bay-birders, About Saw-whet Owls, I agree that they prefer conifer forest, but I've also found them fairly consistently (at least in winter) at sites that lack any conifers, as long as the sites share some characteristics of coniferous forest. For example, the narrow densely wooded canyons along Hicks Road. They seem to like evergreen decidous woodland dominated by live oaks and California bay trees, at least where the trees are closely spaced to create a more or less closed canopy and deep shade on the forest floor. About Merriam's Chipmunk (hereafter, the rodent) vs. Northern Pygmy-Owl, both are present in Almaden Quicksilver Park along the trails up from the Hacienda entrance. To my ears they sound pretty much alike--enough that I could certainly be fooled. If I hear a "pygmy owl" calling in the middle of the day, first I consider time of day (occasionally pygmy-owls call at midday, but that's more the rodent's time). I also consider habitat. Pygmy-Owls prefer canyon riparian and coniferous forest, and they usually like high treetop perches when they are calling, so if the voice is coming from a low perch in oaks or chaparral I figure it's most likely the rodent. Then there's mobility. If the call comes from a fixed position at low to mid-level, and that position never changes, I'm inclined to think flightless rodent instead of owl. I suspect a high percentage of the reports of unseen daytime-calling pygmy-owls are actually based on rodent encounters, and that the numbers counted on CBCs are probably slightly inflated by the rodent factor-- John Mariani Lumberton, TX [[email protected]] _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]