Scientists checked 109 owl nests in Turkey and found live snakes in 44%

A nest box occupied by a Eurasian scops owl might seem an unlikely place to find a live snake, yet that is exactly what researchers repeatedly encountered in central Türkiye. Across six breeding seasons, they inspected 109 owl nests and found the small worm snake Xerotyphlops vermicularis in 44% of them. The reptiles were not simply turning up in empty boxes. They occurred only in nests occupied by scops owls, and observations suggested that the owls were carrying the snakes inside while they were still alive. What happened next is less clear. The worm snakes, which feed on tiny invertebrates, were found moving through the nesting material, where ants and fly larvae can occur.The young owls also appeared to fare better in nests containing snakes: 61% of hatched chicks fledged, compared with 29% where snakes were absent. The figures raise the possibility of an unusual relationship, but they do not yet prove one.An unexpected role for worm snakes inside scops owl nestsThe species involved was the Eurasian scops owl, Otus scops, a small nocturnal owl that breeds across much of Europe and parts of Asia. The study published in Ornithology, titled ‘Association of nesting Otus scops (Eura...