Do Owls drink?

[Laurie Living <>]

HI Steve

Had trouble getting to your bigpond address.

Fleay as others have mentioned, writes about the powerful owl's need to drink/bath.

I have often seen the nesting owl come out of the hollow, meet the male,
exchange food and messages, and then fly down to the nearby stream. If she
comes out of the hollow before it is completely dark [as she did tonight
about 5.40pm], she waits until it is darker and safer to visit the creek.

Andrew Isles bookshop in Melbourne has copies of Fleay's 'NightWatchmen'
from time to time. A great read on owls.

Cheers

Laurie Living

Steve Popple wrote:

A bit of a trivial question and I assume the answer is yes but has anyone observed owls either drinking or bathing? I'd be interested in information on what species and any particular conditions at the time.

Following on from Nivens recent comments, this dry season has been particularly good for raptors around Darwin with larger numbers of Black Kites than last year (some afternoons you can see flocks of up to 50 circling on thermals from our back verandah). Unfortunately a spin off of all these raptors is an increase in road kills with at least one hit bird seen everyday on the roadside on the 45 km drive into Darwin.

Steve