With their big bright eyes and terse-looking ear tufts, great horned owls somehow manage to be both our symbol for knowledge and the archetypal owl for storybooks. In real life, they are no less formidable or fascinating, and the exciting thing is that they are common enough, even in suburbs and cities, that you actually have a pretty good chance of eventually seeing—or at least hearing—one. Read on to learn their preferences for digs, favorite prey, and answers to other questions you may have—like why these birds are such early nesters!
Because their ear tufts look like horns, is how great horned owls got their name.
Where the owls are…
If you live almost anywhere in North America and want to see a great horned owl, or hear one, you probably don’t have to go very far. These impressive predators live in woods, wetlands, grasslands, and deserts, offering many viewing possibilities, but they also can be found in orchards, city parks, and even some backyards. Listen for their hooting, which is usually a series of four or five deep hoots. They often hoot as pairs, with the male’s voice being somewhat deeper than the female’s. Look for them at dusk or before dawn in edge habitat that provides convenient perches in young trees while they begin perusing the open area for possible prey to pursue. When prey is scarce, or when supporting dependent young, great horned owls may also hunt during daylight hours.
What’s for dinner…
Speaking of hunting, great horned owls are extraordinary predators, able to capture prey even larger than themselves. With their keen nighttime vision, highly sensitive hearing, camouflaging colors and markings, sound-muffling flight feathers, powerful wings, and tightly gripping talons, they are extremely efficient at capturing a wide range of prey. Among the larger animals they may take down are ospreys, falcons, and other owls. More often, though, they are on the prowl for smaller creatures, like rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, moles, voles, ducks, small birds, frogs, and scorpions. Their diverse diet also includes fish, reptiles, insects, invertebrates, and even carrion. The great horned owl’s habit of taking eggs and young birds from nests has led to crows and other birds “mobbing” them—chasing, dive-bombing, and even pecking at them—in an attempt to drive them away from the smaller birds’ nests.
Great horned owl family life…
Great horned owls begin their nesting season considerably earlier than do other birds, enabling them to feed their young with the bounty of eggs and nestlings the parents gather from other late-starting and smaller birds’ nests. As a monogamous species, great horned owl pairs spend several months roosting together near their chosen nest site before the female lays eggs. Nesting occurs more commonly in particular kinds of trees—beech, cottonwood, juniper, and pine—but other tree species are used, as well. Cavities within living trees, snags, or deserted buildings are also used for both nesting and roosting.
Great horned owls make great parents and they are very protective of their young.
A mated pair of great horned owls will defend their territory from intruders, particularly in winter before the eggs are laid, as well as after the young leave the area in fall. Defense of their territory or of their young begins with bill-clapping, hissing, and various vocalizations and may escalate to striking an intruder with their strong talons. Predators most likely to prey on great horned owl eggs or young include coyotes, foxes, lynx, raccoons, crows, raptors, and ravens. Incubation takes over a month, and the young—born with closed eyes and featherless—do not fledge until they are about six weeks old. Great horned owl parents continue to care for their young until they are ready to hunt on their own, a lengthy process that means this species can only have one brood per nesting season. Once the young are independent, the parents switch to roosting separately, yet continue to stay in the same territory.
How to help great horned owls…
Great horned owls are faring well as a species. Although they were hunted at one time, they have been protected for many years now, and populations have rebounded. Their populations fluctuate with availability of prey, and their exposure to pesticides, and other toxic substances that can kill or significantly impact them when they become concentrated in the prey animals they eat. To help great horned owls, protect both wooded and open habitat in your area, leave snags standing when safe to do so, which provides roosting and nesting sites for great horned owls, and eliminate or significantly reduce use of pesticides when managing your lawn and gardens. Likewise, do not use poisons to address conflicts with small mammals in your yard or garden—poisons inflict cruel and unnecessary suffering upon the target animals, and, in turn, affect non-target animals for whom the smaller animals are prey.