• Question: Have you ever thought of studying the wholes in trees that owls sit in. Do you know what they are called?

    Asked by anon-218396 to Anna, Emma, johnpaterson, Richard on 19 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Anna Gardner

      Anna Gardner answered on 19 Jun 2019:

      Yes, its great that you are curious about those holes. They are fascinating to think about what might be in them! Mostly these holes are caused by damage to the tree (e.g. a big storm, think lightning!). The damage causes a big branch to fall to the ground producing the hole. Sometimes the hole can be a great home to birds and sometimes even squirrels or bats live in them too. Check out this website with more information: https://blogs.massaudubon.org/yourgreatoutdoors/who-made-that-hole/ The holes do not usually have a name, but you can call it a ‘cavity’ and the birds that lie in there are called ‘cavity nesters’.

    • Photo: Emma Markham

      Emma Markham answered on 20 Jun 2019:

      Such a great question! I think they are just called Tree Hollows (very unexciting), but yes, they are an important area of study, because they provide an essential habitat for wildlife. In face there is even a book about tree hollows and animal conservation in Australia! https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/3010/
      .
      Almost anything can be studied in depth! One grandmother in Devon was annoyed with snails eating her plants, and wanted to know how far away does she need to move them to stop them coming back to her garden. She ended up discovering they have a homing instinct and she became a published researcher! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/8004453/Snails-have-homing-instinct-amateur-scientist-discovers.html
      .
      Are there any topics you are curious about and would like to study?

Comments