Last updated on June 4th, 2023 at 02:50 pm
The scarecrow concept has been a part of all major civilizations worldwide since ancient Egypt. Today, many people use owl decoys and statues of other birds of prey to keep a few uninvited animals off their properties.
Owl decoys may keep several birds away, but only until they figure out that the raptor is merely a statue, not an actual predator. A decoy may keep smaller owls away, as raptors are territorial. However, plastic owl decoys may or may not keep snakes and rabbits away.
How Owl Decoys Keep Birds Away
Medium and large owls are at the top of their food chain, so many small animals and mammals are scared of the predatory raptors, including but not limited to the following:
- Amphibians
- Birds
- Rodents
- Reptiles
- Small mammals
- Smaller owls
Thus, owl decoys can keep many prey away, especially birds.
Leah J. Rensel and Jannell D. Wilder of Linfield University studied the effects of owl decoys and non-threatening objects on the behavior of songbirds and whether or not they visit feeders in the vicinity.
The experiment used a plastic owl and a cardboard box for comparison.
The owl decoy or fake predator’s presence reduced the frequency of the songbirds visiting the feeders nearby.
However, the cardboard box didn’t affect the songbirds’ behavior and feeding or visiting frequency.
But the effects of owl decoys are rarely similar for all birds in different circumstances.
You may find some crows avoiding your property, but a few woodpeckers nesting somewhere might not bother if it figures out the owl decoy is a fake predator.
The resulting effect also depends largely on the type of owl decoy you use and how you wield it as the scaring tool.
For instance, the Dalen Fake Owl Scarecrow Decoy on Amazon.com is quite realistic.
The 16-inch great-horned owl decoy looks more like the species native to North America than the Bird Blinder Owl Decoy, despite the latter being ½ inch taller.
Both may be effective, but you must move them often.
Songbirds and other species must identify an owl decoy as the natural predator, or you are unlikely to have any success.
Some companies make owl decoys with rotating heads. The bobbing head due to wind may be scarier for many birds.
Besmon’s Owl Scarecrow Sculpture has a rotating head. However, the head may rotate and remain fixed at a new position unless the wind is strong to turn it further.
You might need a fake owl to look at, over, or towards your property.
When Owl Decoys Won’t Keep Birds Away
Owl decoys won’t keep birds away in the following scenarios:
- The birds in your area discover that the owl decoy is a fake predator, which may happen sooner if you don’t move the fixture frequently.
- Some birds may indulge in mobbing the owl decoy, presuming it is a real predator. At this point, they will immediately realize that the raptor is a fake.
- A few bold birds may not bother to be afraid and might even hang out with the owl decoy, especially if the species are large and not really threatened.
In some cases, birds may react differently to owl decoys, even if they are the same species.
A study conducted by William A Montevecchi and Alan D. Maccarone of the Association of Field Ornithologists revealed the differential effects of owl decoys on Canadian jays.
A great horned owl decoy didn’t affect the feeding behavior of juvenile gray jays. But the decoy had an adverse effect on the adult gray jays.
The juveniles responded to the agitated parental behavior but not the decoy, while the adult jays became accustomed to the fake owl.
How Owl Decoys Might Keep Owls Away
Since owls are territorial, decoys may keep the other subspecies away. However, larger species may not be dissuaded by a smaller owl decoy.
Likewise, smaller owls may be more afraid of a bigger decoy than the larger species, but they all can figure out a fake in due course.
Will Owl Decoys Keep Rabbits Away?
Owl decoys may keep rabbits away if they are sufficiently large and realistic.
Adult rabbits or larger bunnies might not be scared of owl decoys that are too small or appear toyish.
Rabbits have an almost 360° field of vision and are farsighted, so they can spot predators from a fair distance.
But they don’t see a clear 3D image of their immediate surroundings.
They also have a blind spot of about 10° in the front, and their depth perception is significantly poor.
The lack of depth perception affecting a field of view of almost 330° means a rabbit sees and senses owl decoys by the overall shape in a grainy image.
Rabbits don’t recognize any distinct features of the fake owl unless there’s any movement.
They depend more on motion or movement and smell to detect a threat.
Owl decoys perched somewhere with no movement, smell, or sound are unlikely to deter rabbits all the time.
A rabbit can also figure out a fake owl or predator, just like most birds.
Do Owl Decoys Keep Rodents Away?
Owl decoys can keep squirrels away until they know better. Mice are a different matter, though.
Mice don’t have great eyesight, irrespective of light conditions, as it concentrates more on chalking out the spatial map around its head using their whiskers.
Since mice respond to spatial motion and sense movement and smell better than vision, they may not react to owl decoys.
Can Owl Decoys Keep Snakes Away?
Snakes don’t see well at long distances. While their close-up vision is clear, snakes can see only 2 of the 3 primary colors that humans recognize.
Also, snakes see broader shapes, not the finer details, so an owl decoy’s scary eyes may not impact the reptile.
Snakes have to first spot the owl decoy to respond, but unlike rabbits, snakes aren’t scanning their field of view all around and above to detect a threat.
Here are a few other reasons why owl decoys may not keep snakes away:
- Most snakes use their forked tongues to smell as they search for prey.
- They don’t have external ears to hear. Instead, they sense vibrations.
- Some snakes have pit organs that can detect heat or infrared radiation.
- Owl decoys have none of these stimuli to elicit a response from snakes.