Dead Tawny

[Wayne]

I found a dead Tawny Owl at Amberley yesterday . No obvious signs of it being shoot.

I was wondering if they have any natural predators. It was certainly not road kill.

 

[British Red]

Corvids will certainly mob and attack them - doubt they would kill one though.

Could be natural causes - or eating poisoned mice?

 

[ged]

Yes, they do have a few predators, things like the goshawk and buzzard. Further afield, other owls like the ural and eagle owls. But a predator would probably have left obvious signs, and more likely it wouldn't have left the prey for you to see unless you happened to have disturbed it. A lot of birds are deliberately (and of course illegally) poisoned, and some may die from eating poisoned vermin although I don't know how big an issue that is. Many die because they ingest man-made things like plastic rubbish which their insides can't cope with. And of course there are natural causes. How big was it? Any photos?

 

[Bushwhacker]

Was it an old one or a young one?

 

[Stringmaker]

I went to the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary a while ago and the guy there was saying that the biggest cause of owl deaths was from flying into cars. If you see one swooping about at dawn/dusk you can see what he meant.

 

[Wayne]

I am heading back to the museum Wednesday I will try and take a few pictures.