Great Horned Owl Breeding Success

 “They are the pure wild hunters of our world. They are swift and merciless upon the backs of rabbits, mice, voles, snakes, even skunks, even cats sitting in dusky yards, thinking peaceful thoughts.” 

                                                                                         Mary Oliver

    In the days before COVID, (yes, way back then), I used to lead a walk annually for a neighbourhood association and one of the regular participants contacted me to tell me about a pair of Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) nesting in a tree in his neighbour's yard.

     He invited Miriam and me to visit the birds, and has since become a great friend. Some of the images in this blog are his, and some are Miriam's. I will not identify them, nor divulge his name, lest unscrupulous birders and photographers descend on his house like an unwanted swarm of locusts.

     The owlets were already quite far advanced when he discovered them, and a watchful parent was never far away.

     Foolhardy crows may decide to harass the young, but to come too close to an adult is an act of suicidal bravado.

     As is the way with all young Great Horned Owls they outgrow the nest (often an old crow's or hawk's nest) and move out along the branches of the host tree; in fact the colloquial name for the owlets at this stage of their development is "brancher."

     The young birds do not stray far from each other, seeming to derive security and comfort from physical closeness.

     It is not unusual for one of the young to fall out of the nest, or from a branch, and find itself on the ground, an extremely perilous situation. Much to our friend's dismay he was confronted with this circumstance one day.

     As you may see adult plumage is replacing juvenal down, and the beak and talons are already formidable.

     Our friend tossed a blanket over the young bird, and gathered it up quickly, imprisoning its wings against its side, and transferred it to a tree near the river, having a "ramp' to help the bird regain access to a safe perch.

     It worked, and the second youngster made its way to the same tree where they were reunited both with each other, and with their parents.

     Mishaps still may happen, however, and if you look carefully at the following image you will see that one youngster has fallen and grabbed onto a branch from which it is hanging upside down.

     It obviously suffered no harm from this incident because the two owlets have been seen together in the tree, with attentive parents still delivering food.

     Independence is not far behind and we hope that they will live long and prosper and raise healthy families of their own.

"The advances - or, perhaps more correctly the inroads - of a growing civilization will undoubtedly continue well into this century. As a result it seems probable that there will be a slow but steady retreat of Great Horned Owls from many areas, and eventually a general decline in this great owl's population over much of settled North America. Nevertheless, even this may prove less of a threat than once thought, given the ever-increasing observations of Great Horned Owls nesting, foraging and roosting in urban and suburban areas." 

                                      Dwight G. Smith (2002)

     

     We earnestly hope so. It has been a privilege to share in the lives of this family; may we see many more.