The first wild great-horned owl I have seen.


I have seen great-horned owls before, but always in captivity.  Living specimens have been in zoos or falconers, and I have seen a few stuffed one on display in museums.  But I have never seen one in the wild.

Let me tell you, it is a remarkable experience.  First of all, they are big, huge in fact.  A robin sitting next to it would be relatively tiny in comparison.  Living in BC I see lots of birds of prey.  Some of the larger ones include bald eagles (I have never seen a wild golden eagle), gyrfalcons (I have seen a wild one once), and great-gray owls (I have seen a wild one of these too).  But there is something majestic about the great-horned owl that leaves them all in the dust.

Great-horned owls are top carnivores.  They have been known to eat other raptors such as ospreys and falcons.  A great-horned owl can outlift a bald eagle; their grip strength is so strong that they can snap the spine of almost any prey it catches.  All owls have soft-edged feathers that allow them to fly with almost no noise.  They can, in flight, sneak up on a prey item and catch it completely by surprise.  Their hearing is also exceptional; slight differences in orientation of the ear canals allows them to hear in three dimensions.

One of the most remarkable thing about great-horned owls is their ability to see in very dim light.  It is estimated that they can see clearly in only 5% of the light we can see something in.  This has to do with the fact that the owls have only rods (no cones), which means they see in black and white only.  They also have a very high concentration of these vision cells in the retina that gives them better aquity than we could ever hope for.  Unlike many other birds, owls have both eyes facing forward.  This gives them excellent binocular vision that, in conjunction with their superior hearing, allows them to be very successful at hunting in dim light.  

I hope to get a few more shots.  I understand there is a male, female, and chick in the area.  I want to photograph them without disturbing them.  I am looking forward to the opportunity.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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