Owls of Ohio - Ohio Department of Natural Resources

hooting in mid-to late fall, and eggs are often laid by the end of January. Theowls’ insulating down is extremely efficient and able to warm the eggs to about 98degrees, even when temperatures plummet to below zero Fahrenheit. Incubationlasts about a month, strictly by the female, and the young typically hatch in lateFebruary or March. Within six weeks, the young owls are active and able to climbabout, at which point they may scramble onto limbs away from the nest. Forty-five tofifty days after hatching, they are capable of flight.Vo c aliz ati o n s great horned owlGreat horned owls produce classic hooting that even people with very little familiaritywith owls should easily recognize as an owl. Typical territorial hooting, which is the mostcommonly heard vocalization, is a loud, uniform series, typically of five or six hoots, butsometimes only four: Whooo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo with the first three hoots somewhat moreemphatic and the last few more drawn out. This call carries long distances, and can beheard up to a ½ mile or more on a still night. Pairs often duet back and forth, and thesexes can be easily differentiated. Males have a deeper, mellower quality.Also heard on occasion, especially around active nest sites, are a variety of screamssuggestive of hawks, delivered by alarmed adults or begging young. Adults are alsocapable of a broad array of sounds, including dog-like barking calls, soft whistles, andlow laughing sounds. As with all owls, great horneds can produce surprisingly loudclacking sounds by snapping the mandibles of their bills together.I nter e s ting Fac t s great horned owl Great horned owls can take larger prey than most raptors, including skunks,domestic cats, barred owls, and even osprey Of North American owls, only the Arctic-nesting snowy owl is heavier. It wouldtake 135 American goldfinches to equal the weight of an average female greathorned owl. Probably the longest-lived of our owls. One wild individual was documentedthrough banding to have lived to nearly 29 years. Humans intruding on nest sites should take care. Great horned owls are knownto strike people with their talons, and you probably won’t hear them coming.Great horned owl pellets. Thisphoto shows a pellet that hasbeen broken apart to show thefur and bone fragments thatform the bulk of owl pellets.Photo by: © Gary Meszaros