Great Horned Owl

A few weeks ago I heard that there was a pair of Great horned owls nesting at Silverwood Park. So last week I went to check it out. The first day I went to Silverwood, I was hoping I could find the nest but could only find one of the adults. The second day I found the nest. I saw three owlets in the nest and one of the parents on a branch close to the nest.

The Great horned owl is the largest owl in North America. Great horned owls begin nesting in January or February using old abandoned nests built by other species such as Herons, Red-tailed hawks, Bald eagles, Squirrels, or Crows. Owls can’t smell, instead they use their keen sense of hearing in order to catch prey. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself. Their diet consists of mammals and birds such as hawks, ducks, skunks, house cats, crows, ravens, loons, squirrels, porcupines, shrews, rats etc. If you hear a group of cawing American crows, they may be mobbing a Great horned owl. The crows have a good reason, because the Great horned owl is their most dangerous predator.

Owlets can fly at about nine to ten weeks though they are still fed by the parents for up to several months. Owls can’t digest furs and bones, so instead they cough it back up into pellets.