A local wildlife biologist says a family of great horned owls living within Nelson city limits have probably chosen their busy location for a good reason.
Joanne Siderius, who works at the Kokanee Creek Nature Centre, said Nelson is home to a variety of urban wildlife as food for owls, including rats, mice, skunks, and other birds including crows.
"There have been great horned owls in that area in previous years, and if they are successful, they will stay."
Siderius says two young owls, recently emerged from their nest, are probably about seven or eight weeks old.
The tree they inhabit is very close to a variety of human activities and the birds seem unconcerned by this proximity. But Siderius still asks residents, and their dogs, to maintain a respectful distance.
The adults will now spend the summer hunting to feed the young ones and teaching them to fly. Then they will teach them to hunt, says Siderius.
"Hunting is a really hard thing to learn, so, depending on the individual owl, they won't be able to hunt on their own, probably until late summer."
In the meantime, as part of learning about flying and hunting, young owls might be perched close to, or on, the ground.
"Its parents will still be feeding it, but it may end up low to the ground or very visible to people, and we need to respect that and keep our distance."
In the fall or winter the young owls will leave the parental area and find their own.
Siderius says in a similar situation in a big city, the owls would be overwhelmed with human and canine attention, but she expects Nelson's small size and its aware citizenry will allow humans and owls to co-exist.
If they were outside Nelson in a more rural area they might face different challenges, Siderius says, like aggressive flocks of crows and ravens.
"They get mobbed a lot."
Owls can live from 15-30 years and they usually lay one-to-three eggs each year. They don't build their own nests but instead commandeer those of other birds including crows. They often mate for life.
In addition to their usual fare, owls are known to sometimes hunt cats and small dogs.
"My personal opinion is, if you put your animal out to be part of the ecosystem, to eat things, and if it gets eaten, it's still part of the ecosystem," Siderius says.
Siderius, who has a PhD in wildlife biology and is a retired registered professional biologist, designs and runs education programs at the Kokanee Creek Nature Centre. Her popular online wildlife videos are derived from her extensive network of trail cameras in and around Kokanee Creek Provincial Park. The videos can be found at https://vimeo.com/kokaneecreeknaturecentre.
