Category: Owls

We’re going to attempt to reprise the last week’s events with short videos – here’s the first couple of installments from Tuesday Evening Oct 13 and Saturday Morning Oct 17. In the first video, the female GHO arrives around 6:48 and stays for about 25 minutes. She spends her time excavating a nesting cavity, moving some sticks around, and generally...

  Here are responses to some questions about the owl nest posed by Bryan County elementary school children: Keegan wonders if there are feathers inside the eggs that keep them warm when the mother owl leaves the nest. Answer:  The eggs contain only the developing chick, not feathers, although as the date of hatching approaches, the chicks will start to...

The chicks might hatch any day now, and Mom’s apparently decided to do something about the forked stick that’s been impinging on her as she incubates the eggs since January 1 when the first egg was laid. In the image at the right, above the left hand side of the nest, you see a long forked stick leaning across or...

Around daybreak, the female owl often begins “squawking”, which is a food solicitation call to the male, then flies off. Sometimes you can continue to hear her squawking in the background (and him hooting) while the eggs are untended. Other birds that start vocalizing at dawn and can almost always be heard are Northern Cardinal, Carolina Wren and, occasionally, American Crow. Later in...

  Owls typically swallow their prey more or less whole — head, skin and bones.  Rather than pass the indigestible bits through their entire digestive system, where they might cause intestinal damage or blockage, owls simple cough up a “pellet” — a neatly wrapped package of fur and bones that is about the size of half a standard hot dog. ...