![]() ![]() Dead owls may be reported to the Wildlife Pathology Department in Delmar (518) 479-3032. In New York State, contact the Berkshire Bird Paradise located in Grafton, (518) 279-3801, or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, (518) 402-8013. In Western Massachusetts, if you encounter any sick or injured owl, call the Massachusetts Bird of Prey Rehabilitation Facility in Conway at 41 or the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife at (617) 727-3151. ![]() "Changes in food supply or weather conditions may cause invasions - there are a lot of different reasons." According to Ricardi, about a half dozen have sustained injuries of one kind or another, and the remainder are emaciated. ![]() He has dealt with more than 40 barred owls so far this winter, the highest number since he began work with raptors in the late 1960s. I spoke with Tom Ricardi of the Massachusetts Bird of Prey Rehabilitation Facility in Conway Thursday afternoon. When catkins are scarce, redpolls leave these areas and move south to places where food is more plentiful.) As an example, common redpolls feed primarily on birch and alder catkins. ![]() (Invasions differ from better understood irruptions reported earlier this winter. In this case, an invasion happens when a species of animal temporarily congregates in a particular region in higher-than-usual numbers. Personally, I have seen nary a one, but having just read a recent North Adams Transcript story (by Bonnie Obremski, ), sent me by a Naturewatch reader, I must conclude the invasion is wider spread than I had thought. I've received more queries about owls, particularly the barred owl, this winter than during the past 40-odd years either as naturalist at the Berkshire Museum or writing this column. ![]()
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