Blondie
Northern Saw-Whet Owl at Westchester Community College
Telemetry Study, Valhalla NY
Trudy Battaly and Drew Panko
November, 2014

Blondie is a hatching year female Northern Saw-whet Owl.  We call her Blondie because she has uniformly light wing coverts.

Overview of Activity We banded Blondie at Westchester Community College in Valhalla NY on Nov 3, 2014.  She was released on campus and then visited our banding station again 6 days later on Nov 9, 2014.  This time we outfitted her with a light-weight transmitter so we could see just where she was spending her days and nights.  As of today, Nov 26, she has stayed within a one square mile territory centered around campus. (See the map below.)  We are beginning to wonder if she wants an honorary degree :-)

	Roost Preferences Blondie has used mostly deciduous vegetation, including tangles and trees.  She finds locations that keep her head and eyes well hidden, and her cryptic plumage completes the camouflage.  A Cooper's Hawk was very near her during one of our observations, but the Hawk never even saw her.  Check out the following photos - one in a Norway Maple, the other in tangles.
	Blondie 35 feet up in a Norway Maple
	Blondie 5 feet high in tangles