Bubo virginianus

Would you have thought there would be a Great Horned Owl in Peachtree Park?  We didn’t until one afternoon, late in the day, we heard a murder of crows making a ferocious racket. They had surrounded a Great Horned Owl high up in a pine.  45 minutes later, the crows got tired and left and the Owl was able to fly away to a neighbor’s back yard. We later learned that the crows may have gathered to harass the owl because he is their most dangerous predator. [2]

The neighbor was kind enough to let us come take pictures while their 5-year old son, an Owl buff, explained that it was a Great Horned Owl and told us all about what Great Horned Owls are like.  He was spot on.

This owl is also known as the ‘Hoot Owl’ and the ‘Tiger Owl’, a name derived from early naturalists’ description as the ‘winged tiger’ or ‘tiger of the air’. [1]  If you see one coming straight at you with it’s enormous wing span (3 to 5 feet)  and giant claws, tiger of the air seems most appropriate.  Just look at the sequence of photos above of this Great Horned Owl leaving the pine after the crow episode.

The Great Horned Owl is generally colored for camouflage^. The underparts of the species are usually light with some brown horizontal barring; the upper parts and upper wings are generally a mottled brown usually bearing heavy, complex darker markings. [1]  This all makes sense if you consider that when you are looking up the sky is light and looking down the earth and trees are dark.

The only owl bigger (heavier) in north America is the Snowy Owl.  The average weight for females, who are larger than the males, is 3.5 pounds. [1].  The legs, feet and talons are large and powerful. The average foot span of a fully spread foot, from talon to talon, is around 8 inches. [2] This is a big bird.   When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey. [2]

The Great Horned Owl’s song is normally a low-pitched but loud ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo (or also transcribed as bu-bubu booh, who-hoo-ho-oo or who-ho-o-o, whoo-hoo-o-o, whoo) and can either last for five to four syllables. One transliteration is You still up? Me too.  Cornell’s All About Birds site has calls of the Great Horned Owl.

Great Horned Owls are nocturnal for the most part.  Hunting activity tends to peak between 8:30 pm and 12:00 am at night and then can pick back up from 4:30 am to sunrise.  Hunting activity tends to be most prolonged during winter by virtue of prey being more scarce.  [1]  If a Great Horned is seen hunting during the day, it’s because food is scarce. [2]

The Great Horned Owl is a year-round resident in Georgia.

References and Additional Information

[1]  Wikipedia: Great Horned Owl
[2] Cornell – All About Birds: Great Horned Owl
[2] Cornell – All About Birds: Great Horned Owl – sounds