What Do We Learn From Great Horned Owls?

GREAT HORNED OWL facts...

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are efficient nighttime hunters that strike from above and use their powerful talons to kill and carry animals several times heavier than themselves.

Great Horned Owls are largely nocturnal, so they can be difficult to spot. But in the dark after sunset, or just before dawn, they can often be heard vocalizing with their well-known series of “Hoo hoos,” and can even be seen plucking at roadkill on country roads. Unlike Barn Owls which typically weigh under a pound, Great Horned Owls can weigh up to five pounds and are considered one of the heaviest and largest of the owls in the Americas.

What Do We Learn From Great Horned Owls?

As an apex predator, Great Horned Owls have few natural enemies, but observing their habitat and hunting behavior reveals other reasons why they have such high survival rates. What natural enemies they do have are most threatening during the period when the female has eggs. Owl eggs make delicious meals for raccoons and even buzzards.

GREAT HORNED OWL facts...

The Great Horned Owl considers other owls and raptors a nutritious part of their daily diet. One bird that likes to give Great Horned Owls grief is the crow. They like to mob owls and attempt to outnumber them. It’s for good reason, too, as crows are tasty morsels for a Great Horned Owl.

Great Horned Owls are highly adaptable birds in that they will relocate or migrate to ensure their survival, as do most owls. If a forested area presents a threat by predator or lack of available food, they will move and reside in a manmade structure. We learn a lot of lessons from Horned Owls by studying their prey and there is no better way to identify prey than by dissecting owl pellets, the regurgitated remains of their diet. Because Great Horned Owls break the bones of their prey in order to digest it, they will occasionally produce a chalky and porous pellet that resembles a grey ice cream cone. When picked up, it can easily fall apart because the chalky bones have been crunched up during the digestion process. Identifying the prey of the Great Horned Owl is an investigative puzzle, but a fascinating lesson nonetheless.