Date: 6/2/25 9:45 pm From: Pete Sole <pete...> Subject: [MBBIRDS] The joy of owls... (with photos)
Hi birders,
For the last few weeks my wife and I have been thoroughly enjoying the
family of GREAT HORNED OWLS that have bred in our neighborhood. Tonight,
I was able to capture some fun studies of the one the young. A few
images of both adults and young to enjoy, created in the last 3 days:
One of the most amazing things about GREAT HORNED OWLS is that they have
incredible eye sight and hearing, as we would expect, but a terrible
sense of smell. They have been documented eating skunks! According to
Cornell's Birds of the World, GREAT HORNED OWLS have "among the broadest
diet niche of North American owls. Takes an exceptionally wide variety
of prey, ranging in size from scorpions ... and small rodents (Rodentia)
to larger hares and rabbits (Lagomorpha); also large birds such as
ducks, geese, and herons.... Over much of Great Horned Owl's range, diet
consists of 90% mammals, 10% birds, and usually only a small number of
amphibians, reptiles, insects, and other invertebrates..."
