Bubo virginianus: The Great Horned Owl. re-posted

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Thursday, December 7. 2023

Bubo virginianus: The Great Horned Owl. re-posted

I heard one hooting outside my open bedroom window last night at 4 am. Woke me up. After 20 minutes, another one joined in the conversation. A mate. They will lay their eggs soon, in winter.

Remarkable large birds, top predators, and adaptable to almost every habitat from urban parks to deserts. They are found everywhere in the US, Canada, Central America, and in parts of South America.

They will eat anything that moves: house cats, snakes, skunks, rats, porcupines, mice, fish, muskrats, possums, crows, gulls, ducks, even smaller owls - but their favorite food seems to be rabbits.

I rarely see them, but I hear them regularly. They are non-migratory and early maters and nesters, laying eggs in January snowstorms.

Their hooting is mostly territorial in purpose.

You can read about them here and here.

This is fun: The Owls of NYC

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 16:18 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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And to think, I saw the header before the picture and clicked to see if you were talking about either McAuliffe or Cuccinelli.

#1 Kurt on 2013-10-24 17:43 (Reply)

Out for a walk early one morning with my little dog (a Shih Tzu) I heard a whoosh overhead and nearby. Looking up I saw one of these magnificent creatures pass and then land on a branch about 15 - 20' up a pine tree. I'm not saying it had it's sights on my small dog, but it had it's sights on my small dog. Had I not been there...

I love the sound of their calls in the night.

#2 steve walsh on 2020-11-23 17:43 (Reply)

That bird would take your dog.

#2.1 Bird Dog on 2020-11-23 18:00 (Reply)

In the evening, to get a visual after getting the audio.

First the owl is close because for us the hoot sound doesn't carry far; and second despite what you think you are hearing the owl is perched low. The trick is to walk between the hoots in the direction that sounds right. Just a step or two. Squatting down has revealed more than one. When the owl knows you see it, it will glare briefly and the take off

#3 Sf jeff on 2020-11-23 18:32 (Reply)

Love to listen to them when they are hooting to each other. What crazy sounds they make when they get started. A number of years ago one had landed on the ground behind a hedge around our patio. When I startled it it in return startled me and our dog with such a scream it sounded like it could wake the dead as it flew straight up before departing quickly.

#4 JC on 2020-11-23 18:47 (Reply)

Had a pair nest in our pine tree last year, very large birds, and
when they fly, you do not hear them. It was great being able to watch them every day. Unfortunately they chose a old squirrel nest to nest in which collapsed in March, the smallest chick, passed and 2 others survived. The parents kept watch
as they nested on the ground. Amazing birds that the crows hate. It was interesting to see them bring rats home for dinner
every day. As this a nice residential area.
Any one know if you can build nesting stands for these birds?

#5 Dennis Lukas on 2020-11-23 23:36 (Reply)

Years ago, in the middle of a moonlit night during Michigan's January Thaw (warmer temps, lasts anywhere from a day or two to a week or more) I heard an owl hooting in the tree outside our bedroom window. Pretty soon I heard another hoot, and then another hoot, and then another. I don't know how many there were out there, but it must have been some kind of sex party, because for almost an hour they were hooting throughout the woods. It was magical.

#6 RebeccaH on 2020-11-24 13:38 (Reply)

Back in my hunting days, we would owl hoot to make turkeys gobble in order to locate. My companions would use their voice. I was never that good. I bought a wooden call that had a high pitched fluty type sound. My buddies laughed at it. One morning two of us were hunting on adjoining ridges. There was a gobbler at the end of ridge he was on. I would hoot and turkey would gobble. He would get no answer to his calls. This went on for 20 minutes or so until I knew he was set up on his turkey. Just before I was going to move, a giant owl lit on a limb just beyond arm's reach over my head. I can still hear him today about 40 years later. He looked down and with an incredibly deep bass voice said WO WO WRRRRR! I believe I said something he liked. No more grief about my owl whistle.
One of many treasured memories of my time in the wilds.

#7 Randall H on 2023-12-07 17:46 (Reply)

I was blessed to see one grab a rabbit in my headlights.

#8 Capt. John on 2023-12-11 13:07 (Reply)

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Thursday, December 7. 2023

Bubo virginianus: The Great Horned Owl. re-posted