Mike Russell

Biologist. Owls are my jam. Chasing the last old growth boreal forests while I still can. Trained and authorized to handle and band birds for science.

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

@CaribouCaroline @BrennaJCassidy @Connorjmeyer I have see this in a small number of owls. These birds are amazing and seem to be able to make it even with these injuries.

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

@ThiessenConrad Sorry to hear Conrad. They were a memorable dynamic duo for sure!

[Famous Amos Photography @FamousAmosPhoto]

A northern Pygmy owl peaking out of a old sapsucker nest hole! Was lucky enough to find this nest this past weekend while hiking through the boreal forest. Scratched a few trees with sap sucker holes in direct hopes of finding a owl nest and was shocked when she peaked out!

[Mark Smith Photography @marktakesphoto]

Not for the squeamish. This was the outcome and something I never expected to see and document. Falcon swoops in and snatched an Osprey chick.

[Famous Amos Photography @FamousAmosPhoto]

A pair of Northern Pygmy Owls Cuddling together in the boreal forest this past Saturday! It will be a matter of days before she will be laying eggs and he will be a busy boy hunting to provide for her while she incubates eggs! Hope they have a successful Summer raising a family!

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

I just think this is fascinating to consider and wanted to share. Here are some snaps of a northern saw-whet owl for which this phenomenon was first described for owls. https://t.co/z3Fwbvc2JZ

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

Newly molted owl feathers are often pink in colour. Under a UV light they can light up like a Christmas tree!

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

While the porphyrin degrades under light, more nocturnal species with incomplete molt in their retrices can fluoresce with varying degrees of pink in their plumage, sometimes with 4 years of pink-ness (to our human vision).

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

@iloveterns Good luck Becky! Wish I could join you and “strike out” on purple sandpipers and red-bellied woodpeckers just like old times!

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

Northern pygmy owls have ear tufts that they can raise when alarmed or grouchy. I think we can all relate to this male owl that we banded today.

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

@plumpquail @FamousAmosPhoto Yes. Agreed! We don’t have a sufficient sample of recaptures with foot injuries yet. At least one of ours had lost a toe after first banded as an adult, but most were not previously banded. We may learn more as our recapture rates continue to rise.

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

Almost 8% of all northern pygmy-owls banded during our study have had preexisting foot injuries. Our best guess is a struggle with prey. These little owls don’t know they are pygmy-sized and sometimes take on more than they should!

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

@JosueATYoshi Agreed. We don’t know the outcomes of all, just the ones that make it.

[BBO @beaverhillbirds]

This little guy probably doesn't realize it, but its actually a very important bird. This is the five thousandth capture in our owl monitoring program's lifetime. It took us twenty years to get here, but it's finally happened.

Now let's get to ten.

#5000owls #bbo #owls

[Mike Russell @NorthernBirder]

@psolymos This led me to your Heroku articles which I have been considering. Black and bruised from Amazon RDS/AWS and looking for a cheaper alternative right now. Appreciate this!