From the Center for Wildlife
Humans aren’t the only ones out there celebrating the season of love. Many species, like our friends the barred owl are in the midst of carrying out courtship rituals in preparation for breeding season.
Courtship behaviors for the barred owl include a variety of physical contact including affectionate preening and some fun dance moves like head bobbing. This is a great time of year to get out and listen to your local owls as well!
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us here at Center for Wildlife!
Owls mate for life! ♥️ (Not sure if all but most owl species do)
They do!
It isn’t romantic in nature, more a survival pact.
From Owl Chatter:
Sadly for people like me who swooned over this mating for life idea, I was gutted to find out its not so much about romance but more so for practical reasons. These reasons are listed below:
Time is not needed to keep finding a new mate so breeding can begin at the very start of breeding season.
Finding a mate takes time and energy that the bird can use on survival if they only do this search once in their lifetime. Some owls don’t live very long in the wild, e.g. Barn Owls only live for around 4 years and therefore don’t want to spend time continuously finding mates.
The partnership between the birds will improve each breeding season so that the birds become elite at raising young together.
The majority of owls are not migratory which means they tend to pick a nesting site and stay there long-term. Once this nesting site has been established, it makes sense that both owls remain together so they can remain in the shared nest they have created and help protect it together. Owls are extremely territorial and this trait comes out strong during breeding as they will risk their lives to protect their nests.
The rest of the article is cute and deserves a quick read. It talks about some owl mating rituals, owl “divorce,” and some other neat facts.
It’s just a blog post, not a science article, so everyone can enjoy it without having to think all that much. It’s a holiday after all!
It isn’t romantic in nature, more a survival pact.
True but one could say exactly the same about human relationships.
I read ‘owl divorce’ and clicked the article. Did not disappoint. Good read.
There is a Great Horned Owl that lives permanently at my local wildlife rescue center and it says on her profile that her mate in the wild brings her small rodents from time to time. 🦉❤️