Owloween Is For The Birds

"I'm so glad we live in a world where there are Octobers."
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Like Anne Shirley, I adore the season of autumn and the month of October, but, it must be said, I loathe Halloween.  America's fastest growing consumer holiday, I could probably write for days about why I despise it so much... but suffice it to say much of my reasoning is bound up in that one word, "consumer."

This year, Americans are expected to spend over $8 billion on Halloween paraphernalia.  That is a disgusting amount of [largely plastic] costumes, masks, decorations, candy wrappers and other stuff which will, mostly, end up in the garbage.

But since I do enjoy colorful fall foliage, old-timey barn dances, pumpkins and apples, harvest celebrations and that piece of classic literature, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (read it here), the season still holds its charms.  (It would hold more of its charms if Halloween hadn't become an ecological disaster, the neighborhood plastered with tacky plastic Halloween "decorations" that threaten wildlife and are ultimately destined for the landfill.)

"Birds of omen dark and foul, Night-crow, raven, bat, and owl..." - Sir Walter Scott
Owls, perhaps my favorite group of birds, have, unfortunately, long been associated with superstitions and bad omens, probably due to their mysterious nocturnal habits and their eerie, mournful and sometimes downright creepy calls.
(Great Horned Owl at dusk, San Joaquin River NWR)

This year, thanks to Audubon.org, I have discovered a few new ways to at least appreciate, if not actually celebrate, my least favorite holiday.

If you're the innovative, artistic sort, get creative this year with a Halloween craft by turning a pumpkin into a bird feeder and invite your feathered friends to share in the festivities.

If a Halloween costume is absolutely required, I know my environmentally conscious friends will get creative and turn to their own closets for inspiration.  And what would be better than to dress up as your favorite bird with these creative costume ideas?  (Possibly my favorite costume idea from this article is, "American Crow, Fish Crow, Common Raven.  Needs: All black clothes.  Optional: Wear a white t-shirt under a black sweater and you can be a Chihuahuan Raven."  Ahhh, birding humor!)

If you'll be entertaining Halloween guests or children, why not play a game, like Audubon's "Name the Birds Behind These Creepy Calls."  This is far superior to that sit-in-a-circle-and-tell-ghost-stories-with-a-flashlight nonsense.

For more fun Halloween activities, rather than trick-or-treating, go birding in a location appropriate for All Hallow's Eve: a cemetery.  Or, if that's too spooky, simply try birding at night wherever you are.  Being swooped upon by a ghostly pale, screaming Barn Owl or having your blood chilled by the maniacal cackling of Barred Owls in the night is an experience you won't soon forget!

If you're still determined to stay home and be a Halloween Grinch (which is me, most years), at least work on some season-appropriate ID skills, like how to tell a raven from a crow.

"Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
in there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;...
Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore.' "
-Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven  (read it here)
(Common Raven at Yosemite NP)

For more ways to celebrate nature at this spooky time of year, read about how to recognize a spider by its web, check out this article about ghoulish plants or participate in Bat Week!



A spider skeleton.  This might be the last straw for me
as a naturalist!!  (Image courtesy of one of our fine
retailers - i.e. Walmart - though it appears these atrocities
are readily available from plenty of other establishments as well.)
I can only shake my head at this one... 


P.S. The other day while grocery shopping, I saw a Halloween decoration that is really and truly horrifying for the ignorance it represents: a faux [plastic] giant spider skeleton.  Let that sink in for a minute...

A spider skeleton.

Spiders are invertebrates!!!


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