Great Horned Owl
(Genus, species: Bubo virginianus)
We live in Alberta, Canada and we've often seen Great
Horned Owls sitting on poles or gliding in the air as we drive around in
our van. The Great Horned Owl was adopted as Alberta's provincial bird on May
3, 1977, by a province wide children's vote.
|
|
|
Distribution/Location
|
General:
The
Great Horned Owl is one of Canada's most common birds of prey (raptors)
and lives here (and throughout North America) year round. This owl hunts only at night and
is most easily identified by its large size and feathery ear tufts
(horns). Most Great Horned Owls mate for life laying 1 to 5 eggs
each year well before the snow melts.
The black area in the picture to the left represents the Great
Horned Owl's living area. As you can see, it's extremely widespread.
|
|
Description - male:
Great Horned Owls are large owls -- about 18 to 25 inches long and have a wingspan between 35-60 inches.
They have light gray to dark brown feathery ear tufts (which is how they ended
up with the name 'Horned' owl).
They have horizontal breast barring with gray to brown,
mottled bodies. Their face has a dark outline with a lighter brown center
and sometimes a white bib under the chin. They have sharp, black talons
and beaks.
They have large, round gold eyes. Like all owls, their
large eyes cannot move. To look up, down or to the side the owls must move
their entire heads and are able to turn their necks 180 degrees.
|
 |
|
There are some differences in coloring of the
Great Horned Owls, depending on where they live. But their ear tufts make
them easy to identify.
|
Description - female: same as the
male, but larger in size. The male weighs about 3 pounds while the
female weighs about 4 1/2.
Description - young:
The young owls are almost fully feathered and capable of short flights around eight weeks of age.
|
|
Feeding:
Great Horned Owls hunt by perching or gliding slowly high above the
ground. When they spot prey, they dive down to the ground with wings
folded. The prey is usually killed instantly when grasped by the
owl's large, curved talons.
Great Horned Owls are mainly nocturnal (meaning they
hunt at night), but they also hunt during the day in the
wintertime. They eat rodents, hares, squirrels, skunks, various
birds such as geese, grouse, ducks and pigeons. They sometimes eat
fish, large insects and scavenge road killed animals.
One of my 8 year old daughter's favorite science
experiments in school was when the class got to dissect owl
pellets. Owls eat their prey whole but cannot digest the fur,
feather or bones. They periodically cough up pellets containing
the undigested bits of their meal. In class the children picked
out the bones from the pellet and worked at identifying what the meal
had been. Tasha's owl pellet had the remains of a mouse.
|
 |
|
Habitat:
The Great Horned Owls are wide spread and have adapted to many different
habitats. They are most often found in treed areas like forests,
woodlands and shrublands.
|
 |
|
Nesting:
Great Horned Owls likely mate for life, beginning at 2 years of
age. They have large territories which they both defend
from others of their species. The territories need to be
large to provide an adequate hunting area. |
|
Great Horned Owls tend not to build their
own nests. Instead they nest in the abandoned stick nests
of another bird, on cliffs or occasionally even in hollow
trees. Nesting occurs early in the spring, typically when
the snow is still on the ground. The owls find a new nest
each year since the young are so active that they virtually
destroy their nests.
|
 |
| The female typically lays a
clutch
of 2 to 3 eggs each year (though it can be anywhere from 1 to 5
eggs). The male and female take turns sitting on the eggs
('incubating) for about one month. |
|
| Enemies: The
Great Horned Owl's only natural enemy is other Great Horned Owls, though
occasionally other birds may try to get their eggs. |
Used with permission. ©
Robert
McDonald
Thanks to Robert for allowing us to use this picture. |
|
Migration:
none, though they may wander a bit in search of prey.
|
Worksheets and Other Activities:
|
