On my morning walks I frequently pass by a certain palm tree. Below this palm tree I often found small cylindrical “pellets” that pretty much resembled dog poop…except for the small feathers and bones sticking out of them. This was a good hint that a bird of prey lived nearby.
A birding friend mentioned that there were barn owls in my area but I had no luck seeing any in the palm tree until… I saw a couple of people looking up into the tree one morning and they helpfully pointed out the barn owl to me.
Hey!
American Barn Owls are usually active at night so it was a sleepy heart-shaped face that looked at me. The feathers around its eyes were moving. I was being evaluated.
Barn owls typically eat rodents and other small mammals, birds, and insects. I was safe.
“Dear Mr.Barn Owl,
Your dinner is ready.”
