Chicago Wilderness Magazine - Overflow Owl Prowl

Overflow Owl Prowl

By Tim Kuesel

What would you do if you threw an event and people descended on you like an avalanche? On Friday, March 3, The Chicago Sun-Times ran a little article touting the owl-finding skills of Wannetta Elliott, a retired mail carrier from Oak Forest. It invited readers to show up for a tour she was leading the next day.

Wannetta's moment of truth: too many owl-lovers?

Photo: John Denk

The great horned owl

Photo: Richard Fisher

Wannetta (pronounced like "Juanita") loves owls and loves to teach people to love them. She'd been giving her little tour for Thorn Creek Audubon Society for many years, and six or ten people would show. That was as many as she could handle. Wannetta doesn't like crowds, to put it mildly.

At 7:50 the next morning, I was there a bit early, at the small strip mall at the corner of Vollmer Road and Central Avenue in Matteson, Illinois. So were 142 people in 68 cars, by my count. I quickly realized this was a happening and started taking notes.

Wannetta had been out early visiting her spots to make sure of that morning's owl perch locations. When she approached the meeting point for the tour on Vollmer, at first she was confused, then terrified by the throng of people filling the sidewalks, their cars overflowing the parking lot. Local police, responding to a call from the White Hen Pantry (which wanted to save parking spots for its coffee customers), were trying to redirect people to a dirt road across Central.

Long-eared owl.

Photo: Willy Onarheim/AKM Images, Inc.

"I just wanted to jump back in my car and run away," Wannetta said to a reporter later. But seeing that the assemblage consisted largely of families with young children and new enthusiasts lured by the publicity from the newspaper, Wannetta bucked up her courage and started making plans. She divided people into small groups and explained that the rare long-eared owl was a skittish little creature that could be approached only by a few quiet people at a time. She set up a couple of viewing scopes in the pine grove across the street and trained them on a long-eared owl. Then she led people out in small groups, and made sure all enjoyed good looks at a miraculously cooperative bird. A bit later, she took the tour participants to see great horned owls sitting on nests in several locations.

People were entranced by this great opportunity. One experienced birder commented that even after viewing the owls Wannetta had set up in her scope, and knowing exactly where to look with binoculars, the birds' camouflage was so concealing that she was unable to locate a single owl on her own. No wonder people call Wannetta "the owl lady." I suspect many more budding birders are now hooked. Chicago Wilderness just got a little bigger.

Owls in Chicago Wilderness

Eight species of owl are known to at least pass through Chicago Wilderness. Our woodland owls include the long-eared, screech, barred, great horned, and saw-whet owls. Owl species of the grasslands are the short-eared owl and (very rarely) the barn owl. Most winters, the snowy owl makes an appearance along the lakefront.

Looking for Owls

First, visit the right habitat. Long-eared owls, says our guide Wannetta, prefer pines or thickets beside a large field. Great horned owls can nest fairly deep in the woods, but also need an open hunting ground nearby. Once you find the habitat, hike in and look for whitewashed pellets at the base of trees. This will signal a place where owls have roosted. But even once you're there, owls can blend right into the background. The experts use a few tricks to see the owls. Long-eareds, for instance, roost all day long, having finished their hunting by early morning. Wannetta's instructions: Be quiet, walk slowly, and look. It will take practice. "I'm terrible at looking for morels," she notes. "I don't do it too often."

Owl Habits

Great horned owls are one of the few predators for skunks. (Thanks, guys!!) They will also prey upon long-eared owls, which in turn might prey upon smaller saw-whet owls, as well as numerous small mammals, mostly mice and voles.

Owl in a Basket

Wannetta had seen a great horned owl trying unsuccessfully to nest in an Osage orange tree. So one year she placed a bushel basket about 20 feet up in the tree. The same great horned owl has nested in the basket for the last 10 years.

Owl Proverb

A wise old owl sat in an oak,
the more he saw the less he spoke,
the less he spoke the more he heard,
why can't we all be like that wise old bird?
—Anonymous