Ha – TOTALLY okay with kicking the squirrelys OUT, but really just wondering if the owls might do it themselves.
Daily Archives: February 23, 2021
Re: Another great day AND SCREECH OWL BOX
Kim, great question !!
my heavily biased vote is in favor of a native resident bird sp (WESO) vs. an introduced mammal sp (our local squirrel? sorry I haven’t fully researched this and it’s a word-of-mouth thing that they’re introduced here in T Valley), so I’d kick those squirrels out even if it requires manually doing so several times 😉
I seriously hope nobody ever ever ever introduces squirrels into the South Hills or we might lose our state’s only endemic bird Cassia Crossbill ?? or at least put them at risk ?
this blurb copied from BOW species account for Cassia Crossbill updated in 2018……
Distribution
Distribution
Breeding Range
Figure 1. Endemic to the Lodgepole Pine forests in the South Hills and Albion Mountains of Twin Falls and Cassia counties in south-central Idaho.
Nonbreeding Range
Figure 1. Resident. Found year-round throughout the breeding range.
Historical Changes to the Distribution
Lodgepole Pine was projected to be much scarcer in the region 7,000–5,000 years ago, and the Cassia Crossbill likely evolved subsequently (20).
Recommended Citation
Benkman, C. W. and C. K. Porter (2020). Cassia Crossbill (Loxia sinesciuris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.redcro9.01
Re: Gem County jewels
Great photos liz –gena
Re: Another great day AND SCREECH OWL BOX
Right? That’s what I said! Yay, Tom and all those able to get the vaccine.
If I may change the subject – I have a screech owl situation. We’ve had families of WSOW nesting in our backyard owl box for the last 7 years. Really cool! Last year the mom, (I really think she’s been the same one) passed away. 😢 (another piece of lame ’20) Dad, (not the first) raised the chicks and everything was mostly fine for the rest of the summer. (Besides the lame Coopers Hawk)
THIS year – I have a squirrel nesting. My question is … will a new pair kick the squirrel out or do I need to? I’ve been hearing one out at night so it’s possible a there might be a new family, but how brave are they?
Thanks so much for your thoughts – happy birds and happy vaccines.
=) Kim
SE Boise