Little Ravens attack a Barn Owl

on 14th August 2023

On 11 August 2023, a commotion in the beachside vegetation attracted Wong Kais’ attention. He saw two Little Ravens, Corvus mellori, diving repeatedly into a mixed vegetation clump comprising Leptospermum sp. and Allocasuarina luehmannii. He rushed to set up his camera for some bird fighting scenes and was not disappointed.

Image 1: The beachside vegetation clump seen from the beach, Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor. 13 August 2023. Attribute Wong Kais.
Image 2: The Leptospermum sp. plant was in flower. 13 August 2023. Attribute Wong Kais.
Image 3: Close-up of one Leptospermum sp. flower. 13 August 2023. Attribute Wong Kais.
Image 4: The cones of the Allocasuarina luehmannii plant. 13 August 2023. Attribute Wong Kais.
Image 5: Young shoots of Allocasuarina luehmannii sprouting on the branches. 13 August 2023. Attribute Wong Kais.

A Barn Owl, Tyto alba, flew out of the vegetation and landed in a car park lot with two ravens attacking it. One raven managed to pull off a feather from the owl and spat it out while facing the owl. Another raven flew down and attacked the owl from behind. The two angry ravens then joined forces to attack the owl together and the owl made an attempt to fight back. The owl eventually flew off, pursued by the two aggressive ravens.

Owls are carnivorous and feed on rodents and nestlings. Many birds see the owls as threats and attack them instinctively on sight and this has been documented many times in BESGroup posts.

Read the following posts:

https://besgroup.org/2021/11/13/barn-owl-tyto-alba-attacked-by-crows-at-bishan/

https://besgroup.org/2019/05/16/long-tailed-shrike-mobbing-barn-owl/

Two Little Ravens attack a Barn Owl, Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor. 11 August 2023. Attribute video clip to Wong Kais.

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