<< Previous Next >>

For Jane Magen


For Jane Magen
Photo Information
Copyright: Rick Price (Adanac) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1111 W: 1 N: 4518] (15132)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-03-09
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon 40D, Canon 100-400/4.5-5.6L IS
Exposure: f/9.0, 1/640 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-03-10 17:23
Viewed: 659
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
This iamge of a Great Horned Owl on its' nest is dedicated to Jane Magen ( jaycee ) who has been a great asset to TrekNature and a friend since I joined.
I always comment about that Arizona Blue sky, well yesterday we had it here in Alberta.

The Great Horned Owl was first seen in the Virginia colonies, so its species name was created from the Latinised form of the name of this territory (originally named for Queen Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen"). The first published description was made in 1788 by Johann Gmelin. Great Horned Owls are sometimes known as Hoot Owls, Cat Owls or Winged Tiger.

Description: Great Horned Owls can vary in colour from a reddish brown to a grey or black and white. The underside is a light grey with dark bars and a white band of feathers on the upper breast. They have large, staring yellow-orange eyes, bordered in most races by an orange-buff facial disc. The name is derived from tufts of feathers that appear to be "horns" which are sometimes referred to as "ear tufts" but have nothing to do with hearing at all. The large feet are feathered to the ends of the toes, and the immature birds resemble the adults. Females are 10 to 20% larger than males.

Size: Length 46-63.5cm (18-25") Wingspan 91-152cm (36-60") Weight 900-1800g (32-63.5 oz)

Habits: Activity generally begins at dusk, but in some regions, may be seen in late afternoon or early morning. Both sexes may be very aggressive towards intruders when nesting.

Voice: Great Horned Owls have a large repertoire of sounds, ranging from deep booming hoots to shrill shrieks. The male's resonant territorial call "hoo-hoo hoooooo hoo-hoo" can be heard over several miles during a still night. Both sexes hoot, but males have a lower-pitched voice than females. They give a growling "krrooo-oo" or screaming note when attacking intruders. Other sounds include a "whaaa whaaaaaa-a-a-aarrk" from disturbed birds, a catlike "MEEE-OWww", barks, hair-raising shrieks, coos, and beak snapping. Some calls are ventriloquial. Most calling occurs from dusk to about midnight and then again just before dawn.

Hunting & Food: Great Horned Owls hunt by perching on snags and poles and watching for prey, or by gliding slowly above the ground. From high perches they dive down to the ground with wings folded, before snatching prey. Prey are usually killed instantly when grasped by its large talons. A Great Horned Owl may take prey 2 to 3 times heavier than itself. They also hunt by walking on the ground to capture small prey or wading into water to snatch frogs and fish. They have been known to walk into chicken coops to take domestic fowl. Rodents and small rabbits can be swallowed whole while larger prey are carried off and ripped apart at feeding perches or at the nest. Birds are often plucked first, and legs and wing tips discarded. An extremely wide range of prey species (at least 253 identified) are captured, but rabbits and hares are its preferred prey. Mammalian prey includes all coexisting rodents, squirrels, mink, skunks, raccoons, armadillos, porcupines, domestic cats and dogs, shrews, moles, muskrats, and bats. Bird prey includes all other Owls (except Snowy Owl), grouse, woodpeckers, crows, turkeys, pigeons, Red-tailed Hawks, bitterns, Great Blue Heron, ducks, swans, gulls, etc. Reptiles include snakes, turtles, lizards, and young alligators. Amphibians include frogs, toads, and salamanders. Other foods include fish, large insects, scorpions, centipedes, crayfish, worms, spiders, and road killed animals.
Pellets are very large, about 7.6 to 10.2 cm (3- 4") long and 3.8 cm (1.5") thick. Pellets are dark greyish-black and compact. Skulls as wide as 3 cm (1.2") are regurgitated whole. Pellets are regurgitated 6 to 10 hours after eating.

Breeding: Nesting season is in January or February when the males and females hoot to each other. When close they bow to each other, with drooped wings. Mutual bill rubbing and preening also occurs. They do not build a nest of their own but utilise the nests of other birds such as the hawk, crow and heron. They may also use squirrel nests, hollows in trees, rocky caves, clumps of witches broom, abandoned buildings, or on artificial platforms. They are extremely aggressive when defending the nest and will continue to attack until the intruder is killed or driven off. Normally, two to four eggs are laid and incubated by the female only for 26-35 days. Young start roaming from the nest onto nearby branches at 6 to 7 weeks, when they are called "branchers", but cannot fly well until 9 to 10 weeks old. They are fed for another few weeks as they are slowly weaned. Families remain loosely associated during summer before young disperse in the autumn. Adults tend to remain near their breeding areas year-round while juveniles disperse widely, over 250 km (150 miles) in the autumn. Territories are maintained by the same pair for as many as 8 consecutive years, however, these Owls are solitary in nature, only staying with their mate during the nesting season. Average home ranges in various studies have been shown to be approximately 2.5 square kms (1 square mile).

Mortality: A long-lived Owl, captive birds have been known to live 29 to 38 years, and wild Owls up to 13 years. Most mortality is related to man - shootings, traps, road kills and electrocutions. The only natural enemies are other Great Horned Owls and, occasionally, Northern Goshawks during disputes over nest sites. Peregrine Falcons have also been observed attacking Great Horned Owls.

Habitat: Great Horned Owls have adapted to many different places and climates. They occur in habitats from dense forests, deserts and plains to city parks. They have been known to inhabit the same area as the diurnal red-tailed hawk.

Distribution: Great Horned Owls are found throughout North America from the northern treeline and then in Central and South America. They are resident year-round, however, birds living in the northern part of the species' range may migrate south.


Distribution of Bubo virginianus

Status: Widespread and locally frequent.

Original Description: Gmelin, Johann Freidrich. 1788. Systema Naturae, 1, pt. 1, p. 287.

Subspecies: B. v. virginianus, B. v. elachistus, B. v. heterocnemis, B. v. lagophonus, B. v. mayensis, B. v. mesembrinus, B. v. nacurutu, B. v. nigrescens, B. v. pacificus, B. v. pallescens, B. v. saturatus, B. v. subarcticus, B. v. wapacuthu, B. v. deserti

References:

Boyer and Hume. 1991. "Owls of the World". BookSales Inc
Campbell, Wayne. 1994. "Know Your Owls (CD-ROM)". Axia Wildlife
König, Weick and Becking. 1999. "Owls: A Guide to the Owls of the World". Yale University Press
Long, Kim. 1998. "Owls: A Wildlife Handbook". Johnson Books
Voous, Karel H.. 1988. "Owls of the Northern Hemisphere". The MIT Press
Page compiled by Deane P. Lewis.
OwlPages.com
eqshannon, jaycee, CeltickRanger, smitha, Luis52, boreocypriensis, mariki, gerbilratz, Alex99, maurydv, angela926, Ena, NinaM, SkyF has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
None
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

Rick,
What a stare from this Great Horned Owl, I'll be a little scared if it was looking at me like that. Very well capture with great sharpness and clarity. It blends in very well with the branches. How did you ever find it? Congratulations.
Way

A super capture and a nice dedication as well..I have as you have talked about the sky in Arizona and the same for Luis in Mexico...it is of interest to me in a more scientific way vis the digital camera and recoding images... but here...you have a super image...They are somewhat threatening in looks and perhaps they will also attack, but I know one thing for sure..I have seen it twice...owls leaving with my wilderness cats...which is why I had so many. I felt almost like a feeder for larger owls but I was only trying to get the mice away from our feeds and various other supplies, to which they did much damage...we gave up naming cats the second year we lived there...
Bob

  • Great 
  • smitha Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 285 W: 77 N: 920] (3485)
  • [2008-03-10 19:48]

Hello Rick,
A beautiful dedication to Jane.Excellent POV and details. The bright blue sky in the background provides good contrast to the bird. I have never seen the nest of a Horned owl before. I have always believed the owls generally nest in hollows of trees. I didn't know that they do use abandoned nests of other birds.So thanks for that information.
Regards,
Smitha.

  • Great 
  • Luis52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1026 W: 5 N: 2888] (10447)
  • [2008-03-10 19:54]

Hola Rick.
One excellent photo every day eh? I guess You should have a lot of wild animals in Your great Country.
Jane must be happy for this present.
Nice work My friend.
Luis52.

great capture! TFS Ori

Lovely winter colors, and composition. The branches obstructing the owl's face add to his sinister gaze.

Hi Rick,
What a beautiful portrait capture of this lovely Great Horned Owl with excellent details, sharpnes and lighting. Also Nice dedication to our Joint friend, Jane;) I am sure that she liked this beautiful shot. TFS.
Cheers,
Bayram

Hello Rick,

Very nice shot of this owl which seems to be not very pleased. Very good sharpness. Great colours.
Cheers,
Mariki

  • Great 
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1888 W: 245 N: 6180] (22002)
  • [2008-03-11 2:48]

That is one grumpy-looking Owl!
You've captured this guy in a really natural setting. I think the intruding branches are great because it makes the viewer feel as if they're actually there watching it!
A great BG that makes the bird stand out well.
Superb clarity and sharpness.
A lovely dedication to Jane!
Thanks,
Joe

  • Great 
  • PaulH Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1068 W: 26 N: 3206] (11487)
  • [2008-03-11 4:17]

Hi Rick,
what a great shot - those eyes! Very good DOF and detail for what i suspect was taken from long range. The blue sky makes a lovey backdrop, well done!
Paul

One of your best images...just to get that close one of these is brilliant...super composition and lovely natural colours..great eye contact as well...excellent work !! regards h

hello Rick

great close-up shot of this Great Horned Owl on his nest,
excellent POV i love to see the branch at the right of the owl,
wonderful eye-contact of the subject, excellent sharpness & details,

TFS

Asbed

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1911 W: 8 N: 4976] (16095)
  • [2008-03-11 8:37]

Hi Rick,

I so much appreciate this dedication from someone I value as a friend. Thank you so much. This could have been taken in Arizona. We have both blue skies and Great Horned Owls. It amazes me that you could get this shot of the owl on the nest. It is really wonderful and we can see from her eyes that she would rather you not be there. Excellent colors and details. I wouldn't be surprised if you climbed a ladder to get this one!

Jane

  • Great 
  • rdfoto Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 375 W: 0 N: 747] (3202)
  • [2008-03-11 13:03]

Bonjour Rick
Très belle prise de cet hibou, bonne netteté et couleurs, belle attitude du sujet.
Amicalement Robi

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1357 W: 72 N: 2886] (9535)
  • [2008-03-11 13:31]

Hello Rick,
Excellent focused shot of this Great Horned Owl. Not easy between these branches. But the sharpness and details on the Owl are excellent. Very beautiful light, colours and blue BG.
Regards,
Peter

Splendida immagine, spettacolare composizione di questo bellissimo rapace notturno, eccellenti dettagli nonostante le difficoltà dei rametti, magnifici i colori. Grazie e complimenti. Ciao Maurizio

Hello Rick,
Great shot,
good sharpness and beautiful colors,
Fantastic eye contact and good light.
Angela

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3174 W: 154 N: 4796] (15481)
  • [2008-03-12 2:26]

Hi Rick.
What a cute owl and scene at whole. I like how well it is looked through the tree branches. Superb DOF and great sharpness and details all branches and bird. Blue sky is amazing BG. Bravo Perfect job.
Alexei.

  • Great 
  • Ena Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 359 W: 61 N: 570] (2343)
  • [2008-03-12 11:09]

Hello Rick,
Beautiful bird!
Lovely details and good compo!
TFS
Ena

  • Great 
  • NinaM Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 655 W: 0 N: 1623] (5300)
  • [2008-03-12 15:24]

Wow, Rick, you managed to get through the branches to focus on this beautiful owl. It is a fantastic picture, I love it, never seen any owl that close and even less on its nest. Once again, your natural colours are great and bright in this beautiful sunshine in Alberta. Thanks to you for sharing those beauties,

Francine

  • Great 
  • SkyF Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2390 W: 194 N: 1991] (8113)
  • [2008-03-13 4:46]

Hi Rick,
great shot, excellent work on the focus with having all those branches in your way.
Very well composed with super details and excellent eye contact.
Sky

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2008-03-15 21:13]

Hello Rick

The old evil eye routine.It must be a predator thing!
Excellent focus and sharpness.
The exposure is well done.
The colours are well saturated.
TFS

Rob

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF