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The Great Horned Owl

© B. J. Barton

If you answered the question about what great horned owls say to each other, you probably guess "Who." That's almost right; it's more like hoo, hoo-hoo, hoo, hoo with some variation between male and female. Females have a slightly different pitch and a less even cadence. Some other owls say hoo, but not with the same patterns.

Great horned owls do not migrate. In fact, winter is a fine time to see and hear owls. Leaves are off the trees and in the cold months of December and January, hooting increases as males and females are courting. Couples often sit around on nearby limbs just before dark and talk for a while or just sit. Great horned owls do not really build nests, but often use old nests of other large birds such as hawks, ravens, crows, or they will use squirrels' nests. They also use larger holes in trees, rock ledges, or even scrapes on the ground. Not much repair work is done on old nests, but they are usually lined with breast feathers and down. The female lays 1-4 white eggs and she incubates them for about 28 days. Unless he is hunting, the male is perched nearby. Great horned owls are the earliest nesting raptor, commonly laying eggs in February. If the eggs freeze, they lay a new clutch, or even a third.

It's not a good idea to disturb a nesting great horned owl. They often attack fiercely with strong, sharp talons if people venture close to the nest. You can, however, stand at a respectful distance and watch with binoculars. When the fuzzy white chicks are six to eight weeks old and their original down is replaced by gray down, they start moving out of the nest to sit on nearby limbs. I once saw three large, fuzzy owlets lined up on the limb of a Cottonwood in a big field. They watched me with naive curiousity. This season when the owlets have to be fed a lot, it is often possible to see great horned owls in daylight.

Great horned owls have adapted very well to city life. In Fort Collins, I have seen them nesting just outside the administration building on Colorado State University campus, where they made a living on the pigeons that nested on campus buildings. For several years a pair nested in a tree beside an office building, and another pair in the natural area along the Cache la Poudre River. We do have great horned owls in the local cemetery, too. After all, it's a nice quiet area with lots of big trees, just the kind of space owls need to raise a family.