Bird of the Month: Great-Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl. Photo by Jeff Bryant.
By Roger Digges, CCAS Vice-President
The Great Horned Owl is not technically a snow bird. You can find it in our area year-round (and almost everywhere else in North America and much of South America). “Find” in this case usually means hearing rather than seeing the largest species of owl in this area, because it is nocturnal, although it does call at dawn and dusk when the sky is brightening, and they have been seen hunting in broad daylight. One thing which makes Great Horned Owls a good December bird is that is the month when they are the most vocal, and you are most likely to hear their characteristic low-pitched “hoo-hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo.” We’ll explain why a little later. Also, listening for these owls is great training for “ear birding.” Since, as we learned last month, birds try very hard not to be seen (except by potential mates), birding by ear is an important skill for all birders from beginners to professionals. Great Horned Owls have a very distinctive call and can be heard a long distance away.
Great Horned Owls are large birds, the largest up to two feet in length, and weigh two to five pounds. They have two long tufts atop their heads (which are not horns or ears, just feathers) which make them easy to see in silhouette when they are perched out on a branch or a tree top. Great Horned Owls are predators who eat mammals from the size of a mouse to a woodchuck, and birds from the size of robins to as large as other owls, even Red-tailed Hawks (fierce predators but with poor night vision). They also eat cats, rats, snakes, insects, fish—there are few animals they don’t eat.
We hear Great Horned Owls the most from late fall into early winter, when a mated pair (they mate for life) are vigorously defending their nest site before they lay their eggs. Of all the birds who nest in our area, they are the only ones who nest as early as January. This may seem like an odd time when temperatures can fall below zero Fahrenheit at night and snow or ice may cover the parent bird incubating eggs. But it takes these aerial predators a long time to grow to a size and develop the skills to hunt prey well enough to survive, and they do so as other birds are beginning to leave the nest, a good time to be hunting.
Where can you find Great Horned Owls? They prefer a stand of mature trees, preferably with open areas nearby. These may occur in your neighborhood, a local park or preserve, or along a country road. You’re most likely to hear these owls calling at dawn or dusk. Finding their general location by sound, look for the dark silhouette of a bird with tall tufts perching at the end of a branch or top of a tree. You have found the bird of the month!
How are Great Horned Owls doing? According to Cornell Lab’s All About Birds, their population has held steady over the past 60 years. Partners in Flight estimate their global population at 5.7 million birds and are of “low concern” in terms of threats to their health as a species.
While you can’t attract them with bird feeders (although they may feed on animals in your yard!), you may be able to attract them by building a nest box. Information about nest boxes can be found in Backyard Tips on the Great Horned Owl page in All About Birds.