Mystery of the Powerful Owl tail feathers

[shorty <>]

I would agree with glider.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/

On Sat, Dec 13, 2014 at 6:55 PM, Scrubwren <m("yahoo.com.au","scrubwren17");" target="_blank">> wrote:

We made another visit to the owl yesterday evening, arriving at around 8pm.  About 8.15pm the owl began to stretch and preen.  We had excellent (although dark) views of the tail and wings as they were spread out while stretching.  At 8.34pm it flew to a nearby pine tree, quite low down.  Again there was stretching and preening and calling which I recorded on the iPhone.  It flew off at mid-tree height in the direction of Black Mountain at 8.52pm.  Such a magnificent sight when it is flying.  I tried to attach the recording but I’m not tech savvy enough to reduce the file size.

Gail

On 13 Dec 2014, at 6:17 pm, Geoffrey Dabb <m("iinet.net.au","gdabb");" target="_blank">> wrote:

In 7 visits to this site I have not seen this owl, or any other owl, without tail feathers, although the feathers are quite worn. An owl with no tail feathers would be at a serious disadvantage.  The held object is a Sugar Glider.

 

<image001.jpg>

 

 

 

From: Con Boekel [m("boekel.com.au","con");" style="color:purple;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">] 
Sent: Saturday, 13 December 2014 4:29 PM
To: m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");" style="color:purple;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Mystery of the Powerful Owl tail feathers

 

The nearest spot at which I have seen a Sugar Glider is 970m from the roost.
regards
Con

On 13/12/2014 4:02 PM, Mark Clayton wrote:

Looking at Robin’s two photo’s, apart from the obvious tail on one and apparently not on the other (is it obscured by the left wing which appears to be drooping slightly?), and I may be imagining things, but I reckon the eyes of the two birds are different and there is a clear pale “eyebrow” on the second photo that appears not to be on the first – this could be an artefact of the light. I am beginning to think that there may be two birds. If this is the case, where is the second bird roosting – it won’t be too far away. Also, how far did it have to go to get its latest meal, a Sugar Glider? All guesswork on my part. I will be interested to see what others think.

 

Mark