We ’re here to help!Wild Yards is a wholly free website that is 100 % dedicated to helping you make a wildlife - friendly , sustainable yard . Read more
WildYards is lector - support . When you corrupt a production through a connection on our website , we may earn a comission . Every intersection is independently select by our ( obsessional ) editors and our review are unbiased and objective .
register missionor ourprivacy policy .
Get a Landscaping or Gardening Quote
Enter your zip computer code
As an greedy birdwatcher , you ’re in all probability eager to draw local songster to your backyard . But this can be a double - edged brand because when you draw in one kind of bird , other more aggressive bird may not be far behind . You require to enjoy the sights and sounds of tanagers , carmine , and Jay , but you do n’t want to bid predatory birds to your garden as well . So , do owls eat birds ?
Yes , bird of Minerva will prey on other birds . As carnivores , bird of Minerva rely on a variety of prey to survive . While most of their prey generally comprise of rodents , owls will feed on many birds and raid their nests , too .
Why do owls eat birds instead of other prey?
owl will prey on whichever animals and insects they can . They ’ll trip up crayfish , toad , and angle as well as Gopherus polypemus , rats , snakes , and squirrels . Large owl , like the eagle owl ( also make out as the Eurasian owl ) , will prey on declamatory prey , like rabbits . These owls are strong and sturdy , typically weigh around nine pounds , so subordinate bigger prey is no job for them .
Other owls , like the barn bird of night , are much smaller weighing in at just under two pounds on average . As a solution , they opt to lift up on smaller prey that ’s easier for them to handle like shiner , voles , and lizards . Smaller owls are well - befit to dealing with little prey like these animals .
Regardless of whether or not an owl is large or lowly , if it gets an opportunity to prey on another razzing , it will . Owls also like to slip other birds ’ testicle mighty out of their nests . They wo n’t change by reversal their beaks up at babe birds , either . These raptors are opportunist in the virginal sense . They ’re happy to eat anything they can hitch , and that includes other members of their species .
Which birds do owls eat?
The resolution to that question is passably simple : any and all of them . From your fair backyard songbirds , like cardinals , tanagers , and sparrows to big wench like magpies , ravens , and ducks , hooter will stalk a bird anytime the mood hit them . They ’re infamous for raven on chickens , too , which makesprotecting your own flockall the more important .
Remember , owls eat quarry that is proportionate to their size . You belike wo n’t see a Ferruginous Pigmy bird of night , which is small enough to rest on your index finger , trying to take on a crow . But bigger owls , like the barred owl or the great horned bird of night , will take on a merl give the luck .
Indeed , bombastic owl have been have a go at it to go after other vulturine birds , include osprey , war hawk , and even other hooter ! And , as if these raptors were n’t with child enough prey , some owls will track down geese . Canada jackass are sometimes the object of an owl ’s unwanted attending , and these waterbird weigh around 12 pounds . So it seems some owls are n’t the least morsel deterred by a likely prey ’s size .
While it ’s not unheard of for an owl to attack another snort many times its own size , they commonly go for the small hooey . Wrens , finches , woodpeckers — these birdie are about the size of a rat or large black eye . They ’re not too unmanageable for a skilled huntsman to enamor and they make for a decent meal .
How do owls digest the birds they prey on?
When an owl eat its fair game , the food now enters the stomach , which has two parts . The first stomach is the glandular stomach , or the proventriculus . This belly creates the acids and enzyme needed to give out the bird of Minerva ’s solid food down so it can be used for energy .
The 2d part of an hooter ’s venter is called the ventriculus , or , more normally , the gizzard . The gizzard is the brawny breadbasket , and it stores all of the leftover part of the owl ’s meal that can not be broken down — bones , beaks , teeth , pelt . You get the picture .
Once the owl ’s digestive system has break the meal down , it permit the soluble foods to continue to pass through the intestines and exit through the back end , or the cloaca . Meanwhile , the undigestible end are packed together in the gastric mill to create a large shot , which the bird of Minerva chuck out of via regurgitation , a process that can take around 10 hr . reasonably coolheaded , huh ? Well , it ’s also highly skanky . But , that ’s nature for you !
Do other birds eat owls?
hooter are fearsome piranha , but if another predatory bird is around , they may have the tables turn on them . hawk , eagles , and falcon will eat owls on juncture . After all , they ’re opportunist hunters , too . But bird of night have several things work in their favor to give them an advantage over their would - be predators .
To start with , bird of night are mostly nocturnal . Some owls , like the short - eared hooter , favor to trace during the sidereal day . And , individually , an bird of night may decide to wake up for a mid - 24-hour interval bite . But , for the most part , owls are not around when other predatory birds are out and about . They ’re tucked away in their nests , safe from other raptors .
Vultures , too , will deplete owls . But , as magpie , these birds do n’t hunt down their prey . They just feed in on animals that have already died . And if that animal happens to be an bird of night , well , then so be it . vulture eat roadkill , after all . They ’re not too picky .
Mockingbirds , crow , and jays may not eat owls , but they like to counteract them every chance they get . If these birds spot an owl in the vicinity , especially if it ’s near their nests , they ’ll gang up on the owl and race him out of township like a posse in an previous western . These bird may be middling small compared to an owl , but they ’re nothing if not confident . When it derive to defending their territories from other birds , they mean business !
How can you prevent owls from eating your local birds?
If you want tolet your backyard turn raging , good on you ! Letting nature take back as much as it can will serve keep your local ecosystem booming . But this process can be a balancing act . On the one mitt , you desire to bring in as much wildlife as potential . On the other hired hand , you do n’t want the animals that are high up on the intellectual nourishment chain to view your backyard paradise as their own personal smorgasbord .
If you want to rein in the region owls , try attracting more crow , John Jay , and mockingbirds . expend these skirt ’ innate anti - owl instincts to your own advantage . you could make for more of these birds to your backyard by setting up apeanut bird feeder . Installing abird bathcan help , too . When you could get more owl adversary to police the country , the problem may resolve itself .
Owls also dislike humans . So attempt to be in your backyard around fall , when they bulge out their nightly hunt . If they see you out in your garden , they ’ll be less likely to swoop in for a collation . Meanwhile , the songbirds will realise that you ’re maintain the owls at bay tree , and use the opportunity to off up your raspberry feeder .
Owls corrode other birds , and they do so regularly . If you want to continue to attract songbirds , you could fix owl visitors by appeal to the snort that antagonise them and by increasing your front in your backyard . This will help restore nature ’s tidy balance so you could go along to enjoy hosting a miscellany of local wildlife !
