Great Horned Owl
The great horned owl is a large, tufted owl that can be found throughout much of Colorado.
About This Species
Great horned owls are the largest of the “tufted” owls in North America. The ear tufts are actually feather arrangements called plumicorns. These do not aid in hearing but can be flattened or extended depending on the mood of the owl. Their wings are long and fringed with sound-lessening filaments at the tips of their flight feathers. These special feathers allow the great horned owl to approach their prey extremely quietly, which assists in their nighttime hunting. Great horned owls have the largest eyes of all owl species and their vision is 10 times better than humans in daylight and 100 times better at night. They cannot move their eyes from side to side, instead, their heads can rotate up to 270 degrees. This head rotation is necessary because the eyes are fixed in the sockets with no muscle attachments.
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Physical Characteristics
Great horned owls have long plumicorns on their head, yellow eyes and a white throat patch. This contrasts with the dark cross-barred underparts. They range in color from brown to gray to black and white. Great horned owls have large feet, which are feathered to the ends of the toes. Males, females, and immature owls are similar in appearance.
Range
They can be found throughout North America in dense wilderness forests, suburban woodlands, city parks, riparian areas, and along the coasts. The great horned owl is found in northern, central and southern America, where it ranks amongst the largest owls. It is present across Colorado in many habitats, including forests, mountains, deserts, and suburban areas.
Diet
Great horned owls are mainly nocturnal, but they will hunt night or day (especially while raising young). They have extremely acute hearing and swoop down, catching their prey by surprise in their powerful talons. They feed on a variety of animals including skunks, waterfowl, rabbits, squirrels, marshbirds, hawks, rodents, frogs, eels, fish, insects, and even domestic cats and small dogs.
Reproduction
The males usually begin calling for a mate as early as December and January. They use abandoned nests of other species such as red-tailed hawks, bald eagles, herons, crows, or old leaf nests of squirrels. The nests are located fifteen to seventy feet above the ground. The female lays one to six white eggs with the average ranging from two to three. Both parents incubate the eggs; incubation lasts about a month. The young stay in the nest for six to seven weeks and begin to fly when they are ten to twelve weeks of age. The female tends to provide most of the care.