Michael,
Debus: 'The Owls of Australia' says "prey rarely taken from the ground” & no
mention of carrion.
>From my observations individual birds adapt to their environment, such as the
>Sydney Botanical Gardens owls that regularly take flying foxes, whereas birds
>that have access to a plentiful supply of possums don’t often bother with
>flying foxes, or birds.
The only time I have seen a Powerful Owl take anything except live prey is when
they have dropped held prey onto a lower branch while being harassed by
Currawongs.
So even if your particular owl does take poisoned carrion it is not a species
trait & unlikely to affect more than this bird IMHO.
Possible rat-bait deaths of possums is an issue that might be resolved by
taking a body to the Museum or Zoo for analysis. Not sure of best Melbourne
option.
Regards, Chris
Chris Charles
+61412911184
Licole Monopods
http://www.licole.com.au <http://www.licole.com.au/>
> On 21 Mar 2016, at 10:41 AM, Michael Norris <> wrote:
>
> The other day I saw a Powerful Owl near my home in suburban Melbourne, 16km
> from the CBD. It was in a garden where a number of possums have been found
> dead so I’d like to know if these owls eat carrion. My concern is that
> current rat baits can accumulate in the bodies of vertebrates that scavenge
> on corpses.
>
> Michael Norris
>
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