I have had a Barred owl around too. The birds ignore it, or occasionally bomb it (brave chickadee). My understanding is that the owls are mostly looking to get a (red) squirrel or mouse/vole, who come out to get dropped seeds. "My" owl has been going for the red squirrels....with no success that I can see.

Cynthia Crawford

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On Sat, Mar 7, 2015 at 8:20 AM, Mary Alexnderson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
When the sharpie(who did get a blue jay yesterday) is nearby the birds all leave or freeze in place. This morning with a barred owl in the tree next to the feeder it was business as usual, with chickadees flitting around and cardinal pair eating on the ground. Will the owl not take a bird? I did notice a dearth of squirrels.
thanks for the info.
mary

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