Great Horned Owl Trivia

Even in the mating season, females do not seem as vociferous as the males.

There is a low percentage of infertility in great horned owl eggs. There are records of great horned owl egg sets that were partially or completely infertile but in most cases all of the eggs hatch.

A great horned owl was known to have struck the claws of both feet into the back of a large collie dog (Canis lupus familiaris), perhaps misled by a white patch on the dog as the white on the back of a skunk, its favorite mark.

Great horned owls nest in almost every type of situation in which birds nest, including trees, caves, bushes, and even cactus.

Great horned owls nest in almost every type of situation in which birds nest, including trees, caves, bushes, and even cactus.

Great horned owls nest in almost every type of situation in which birds nest, including trees, caves, bushes, and even cactus.

Great horned owls nest in almost every type of situation in which birds nest, including trees, caves, bushes, and even cactus.

The great horned owl’s speed, weight, and muscular power all combine to give the bird the force to overcome animals many times its own weight.

Great horned owls are most commonly found in interspersed areas of woodland and open fields. Their habitats include forest, savanna, shrubland, rocky areas, deserts, swamps, marshes, mangroves, and both rural and urban human settlements.

Great horned owls are most commonly found in interspersed areas of woodland and open fields. Their habitats include forest, savanna, shrubland, rocky areas, deserts, swamps, marshes, mangroves, and both rural and urban human settlements.

Great horned owls are most commonly found in interspersed areas of woodland and open fields. Their habitats include forest, savanna, shrubland, rocky areas, deserts, swamps, marshes, mangroves, and both rural and urban human settlements.

Great horned owls nest in almost every type of situation in which birds nest, a range of variation unequalled by any other North American bird.

The great horned owl, like some other birds of prey, often has a regular feeding roost, to which it brings its prey to be torn up and devoured.

The most important function of great horned owl hooting is to attract a mate.

The usual number of eggs for the great horned owl is two.

Not only is it possible for them to hear the slightest sound, but they can readily localize it.

Great horned owls have yet to be tamed and seldom make satisfactory pets.

The great horned owl is carnivorous and feeds on small mammals, such as mice and rats and birds.

The Blakiston’s fish owl (Bubo Blakisonti) is the world’s largest owl.

When the great horned owl settles down on a limb, its toes and talons lock round it and hold the bird firmly.

Great horned owl calls are divided into three main categories: hoots, chitters, and squawks.

Great horned owl calls are divided into three main categories: hoots, chitters, and squawks.

Great horned owl calls are divided into three main categories: hoots, chitters, and squawks.

The great horned owl can be found throughout the timbered regions of North, Central, and South America, from the Arctic regions in the North, to the Straits of Magellan in the South.

The great horned owl can be found throughout the timbered regions of North, Central, and South America, from the Arctic regions in the North, to the Straits of Magellan in the South.

This fowl is the most morose, savage, saturnine, and untamable of all New England birds.

The great horned owl is the largest of the common resident owls of the United States.

Prey birds are plucked, but small mammals are swallowed whole, head first.

The ability of great horned owls to revolve their heads through 180° is frequently used to advantage.

Observations in the Ithaca region suggest that when there are several satisfactory nests in a territory the great horned owl will choose a larger nest.

The great horned owl is the most deadly enemy of the American crow, taking old and young from their nests at night and killing many at their winter roosts.

The great horned owl’s favorite part of its prey to eat is the brains.

Of the North American species, great horned owls are one of the first to nest in the spring.

Great horned owls are assessed as “full migrants” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

Great horned owls inhabit aerial/arboreal systems.

The silent flight of the great horned owl is powerful, swift, skillful, and graceful.

Some great horned owls have been noted to dislike putrid meats, but only rejecting it after tasting it, proving their lack of olfactory senses.

The great horned owl’s tufts, or plumicorns, are not the owl’s ears, but rather clumps of feathers found on the heads of some owls and not on others.

Females are much larger than males. Females weigh about 50% more than males with males weighing about 1.3-1.7 kilograms, or 3-3.8 pounds and females weighing up to 2.2 kilograms, or 4.8 pounds.

The great horned owl’s scientific name is Bubo virginianus.

Great horned owls maintain a monogamous mating system.

The great horned owl has a digitigrade form of locomotion.

There may be a direct correlation between the number of great horned owl eggs and the abundance of food.

Any white moving object is likely to attract the attention of the great horned owl and bring on an attack.

From an examination of their nests, it is evident that great horned owls clear out a certain amount of debris before the eggs are laid, and usually line it with a more or less complete layer of consisting of shreds of bark, leaves, or down plucked from the breast feathers of the incubating bird. Near Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the birds occasionally build rabbit fur into their nests before the eggs are laid.

From an examination of their nests, it is evident that great horned owls clear out a certain amount of debris before the eggs are laid, and usually line it with a more or less complete layer of consisting of shreds of bark, leaves, or down plucked from the breast feathers of the incubating bird. Near Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the birds occasionally build rabbit fur into their nests before the eggs are laid.

From an examination of their nests, it is evident that great horned owls clear out a certain amount of debris before the eggs are laid, and usually line it with a more or less complete layer of consisting of shreds of bark, leaves, or down plucked from the breast feathers of the incubating bird. Near Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the birds occasionally build rabbit fur into their nests before the eggs are laid.

From an examination of their nests, it is evident that great horned owls clear out a certain amount of debris before the eggs are laid, and usually line it with a more or less complete layer of consisting of shreds of bark, leaves, or down plucked from the breast feathers of the incubating bird. Near Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the birds occasionally build rabbit fur into their nests before the eggs are laid.

The great horned owl has yellow eyes.

The hoots of female horned owls are not usually identified at any time except the mating and nesting period and there is doubt if they do much calling at other seasons.

Great horned owls will nest in badger and coyote dens in the ground and old squirrel and crow nests.

Great horned owls will nest in badger and coyote dens in the ground and old squirrel and crow nests.

Great horned owls will nest in badger and coyote dens in the ground and old squirrel and crow nests.

Great horned owls will nest in badger and coyote dens in the ground and old squirrel and crow nests.

This may be an old, unoccupied nest, a wide, flat branch of a tree, the hollowed top of a stump, or a hollow place on a fallen log.

This may be an old, unoccupied nest, a wide, flat branch of a tree, the hollowed top of a stump, or a hollow place on a fallen log.

This may be an old, unoccupied nest, a wide, flat branch of a tree, the hollowed top of a stump, or a hollow place on a fallen log.

This may be an old, unoccupied nest, a wide, flat branch of a tree, the hollowed top of a stump, or a hollow place on a fallen log.

During the great horned owl mating season, the challenging, deep, rich tones of the males are occasionally interspersed with the higher and huskier notes of the females.

Pacific horned owls tend to lay larger sets of eggs during wet than dry seasons, potentially because the birds find food more plentiful at such times.

Of the North American species, great horned owls are one of the first to nest in the spring, but their eggs have been taken as early as late November and early December in Florida.

Despite their dignified bearing and handsome plumage, great horned owls do not make pleasing additions to aviaries as they are the most irredeemably morose and untamable. Even when raised in captivity, the animals often remain surly, sullen, morose, vicious, and hostile, often flying in rage at strangers and even their owners.

The great horned owl is listed as Least Concern on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species because of its extremely large range, stable population, and extremely large population size.

The great horned owl is not only the most formidable in appearance of all owls, but it is also the most powerful. The great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) and the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) may appear larger, but the great horned owl exceeds them in courage, weight, and strength.

The great horned owl sleeps upright on limbs.

One bird will hoot and in regular sequence as many as four or five others will answer. It is seldom that two birds are heard calling simultaneously.

The great horned owl is common and widely distributed. Since the division into two species, the great horned owl is the second most widely distributed owl in the Americas, just after the common barn-owl, but its ability to colonize islands is apparently considerably less than those of common barn-owls (Tyto alba) and short-eared owls (Asio flammeus).

Certain native tribes regarded the great horned owl as the very personification of the Evil One. They feared the great horned owl’s influence and regarded its visits to their dwellings as portentous of disaster or death.

Certain native tribes regarded the great horned owl as the very personification of the Evil One. They feared the great horned owl’s influence and regarded its visits to their dwellings as portentous of disaster or death.

Certain native tribes regarded the great horned owl as the very personification of the Evil One. They feared the great horned owl’s influence and regarded its visits to their dwellings as portentous of disaster or death.

The great horned owl is larger than the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) with an even greater wing spread.

Great horned owls have been known to act as if wounded as a protest against intruders to their nests with young. The great horned owl will flutter over the ground like a ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) uttering short “wailing” notes and beating the ground with one wing and then the other to act as if wounded as a protest against intruders to their nests with young.

Observations in the Ithaca region suggest that when there are several satisfactory nests in a territory the great horned owl will choose a nest preferably in a fairly open situation. It is obvious that a nest completely enclosed by interlacing branches would not allow such bulky birds to approach or depart quickly in time of emergency and most nests are at least moderately exposed.

In general stick nests seem to be preferred to leaf nests. This is probably due to the fact that they are larger and offer firmer foundations.

In eating its prey, this owl usually begins at the head and eats backward.

Ordinarily, when there is good hunting, the great horned owl has a plentiful supply of food, and when there is game enough, it slaughters an abundance and eats only the brains.

The great horned owl is a nocturnal bird, most active in the dusk of the evening and on moonlit nights, but it may be heard hooting at times at midnight in the dark of the moon. It hunts at night, yet it can see perfectly in the daytime. The bird often hunts just before dusk on dull days, and, on very dark days, it may be out before the middle of the afternoon.

In Texas, they lay in January and early February. As one moves northward, a direct correlation between latitude and date of laying can be observed, until the extreme is reached in Labrador where sets are often not completed until after the first of April. In the western part of the country the correlation with latitude is often obscured by the effect of altitude upon climatic conditions.

The spring migration northward is not so evident as the fall exodus.

It threads its way with perfect precision through the branches of the forest trees, or glides at low levels over the open meadows, where it can drop swiftly and silently on its unsuspecting prey.

Great horned owls seem to care little for the disagreeable consequences of attacking pungent animals, such as skunks. The owls’ nests often smell strongly of skunk, and the birds themselves, often retain this pungent odor for long periods of time.

If an owl is alert and watchful, its ear tufts will go up, but if it’s scared or angry, its ear tufts will go down.