As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Owls' ability to hunt impaired by noise, research shows


Date: June 2, 2016
Source: Boise State University

Researchers have determined that noise has the potential to degrade owl habitat. The study by Jesse Barber, assistant professor of biology at Boise State University, and Tate Mason, a Boise State alumnus and education coordinator for The Peregrine Fund, is the first to examine the impact of noise on a predatory bird. Their findings were recently published in the journal Biological Conservation under the title "Anthropogenic noise impairs owl hunting behavior."

In the study, northern saw-whet owls hunted mice in a field-placed flight tent under the same acoustic conditions found 50-800 meters (55-875 yards) from a natural gas compressor station.

Owls are specialized avian hunters, and many are particularly well adapted to hunting by ear. In this study, researchers challenged 31 owls to hunt mice by ear (in the absence of light) under varying noise conditions. In this way, the independent effect of noise on hunting could be measured. Data showed that the owls experienced an 8 percent drop in hunting success per decibel increase in noise.



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