I was wondering,are Barred Owls known to swoop out of the sky and kill baby turkeys? I would think that logical, but I never heard anyone ever say that they ever saw it happen, or that they ever heard someone tell them it happened?
Anyone here ever seen an owl or eagle or hawk or something carry a baby turkey away?
While I'm at it, is the correct term for baby turkeys: Poults?
I would think they do....
Heck friend lost over a doz newborn calfs to BALD EAGLES a couple years ago...
Before he saw red and shot half a dozen of them...
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Owls will eat about anything, especially if it's young since it's easier to catch. Any type of gamebird or turkey can be an item of prey, whether it a poult or full grown turkey.
EVERYTHING is on their menu-- problem would be finding them amongst the leaves on the groundor under her wings during the first critical days. On one of my leases we are having a problem with roosted turkey being taken also, we have lots of owls including some great horned ones but I've been leaning toward blaming FISHERS..they have been reintroduced in our area over the last few years and maybe the cause of lots of dead ones being foundin out hemlock patches..???
EVERYTHING is on their menu-- problem would be finding them amongst the leaves on the groundor under her wings during the first critical days. On one of my leases we are having a problem with roosted turkey being taken also, we have lots of owls including some great horned ones but I've been leaning toward blaming FISHERS..they have been reintroduced in our area over the last few years and maybe the cause of lots of dead ones being foundin out hemlock patches..???
GEEZ GUYS.....
LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH OWLSAS WE DO WOLVES COYOTES AND EAGLES......
KILL EM!!!!!!!!!!
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I don't know for sure about Barred owls...but I do know that an adult Great Horned Owl will snatch a full grown adult turkey right off the roost branch.
Everything eats turkey eggs and turkey poults. Nature has equiped them for defense though.
Ever spook a hen off the nest...notice how she runs out in the open but doesn't run very far...and she makes a lot of noise...she is trying to get you to chase her...which will in effect...get the threat/predator away from the nest. Or in later cases, away from the poults. Poults have a whistle (a precursor to the kee kee) that to predator ears (ours included) is audible, but it is in a tone that we cannot easily pinpoint direction or location wise. Sort of like hearing a gunshot across the river...all you know is about where it came from...who knows how far or exactly where?
Also, poults can fly from the time they are about a week old. They sorta look like quail on the wing...but more like big june bugs or fuzzy softballs. Pretty funny to watch'em fly up!
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Predators such as owls and hawks are opportunists and will take turkey poults when the opportunity arises...
Red tailed hawks in particular probably take the greatest toll...I doubt a red tail could kill a full grown turkey, but they get thier share of the poults when the mothers have them out in the hayfields eating bugs.... I once saw a red tail hit an adult hen turkey...Didn't kill her, but she was one PO'D turkey..!!....
I also am unsure about barred owls,but as mentioned Great horned owls absolutely will take not only a poult but a half grown turkey as well.Like Pygmy I also have witnessed in the field on two seperate occasions a Red Tail swooping down on an adult bird of one that was a gobbler.He didn't just do it for fun either as he actually hit the turkey and feathers went everywhere.If it would have been a youngbird it would have been no contest.We run a 3500 acre gamebird facility and pheasants are no match for the Red Tails.The Coopers and Sharpshins our the biggest predator we have on our ranch when it comes to killing quail and chukars,and yes they kill our turkey poults as well.....[:@]
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I'm sure the photo below will answer your question , this is an owl pellet I found while scouting for turkey sign mid march of this year. If look close enough you'll see the skill and beak , now I'm sure this wasn't a young plout but it is a small bird of some kind.
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Do owls eat baby turkeys?
