Date: 5/10/26 7:50 am From: 'Tony Leukering' via Colorado Birds <cobirds...> Subject: [cobirds] Re: ID help for owl - Larimer
Ron:
The bird is probably a recently fledged Great Horned Owl (like this one in
British Columbia ( ML99368691 - Great Horned Owl - Macaulay Library
<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/99368691>) and this one in Colorado ( ML635710085
- Great Horned Owl - Macaulay Library
<https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635710085>). The species begins sitting
on eggs in winter and fledge youngsters in spring.
Enjoy,
Tony Leukering
Cut Bank, MT
On Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 3:33:31 PM UTC-6 ronbco wrote:
> I was at Lon Hagler Res in Larimer County late in the day. There are
> plenty of trees on the west end. An owl was in a cottonwood. I had a clear
> view of it for a few seconds before it started awkwardly finding a
> different perch more hidden. Generally, the only owl sp one would expect
> here is Great Horned. But this was not that. No ear tufts, Quite a stout
> body including neck. Wings were grey and unmarked on the top sides. They
> were very broad and long. The bird turned and faced me once while I had
> bins on it and the face was a disk, but not heart-shaped, with big bright
> yellow eyes and striking coloring on the face.
> So, wrong face and coloring for barn owl, and plus it was no where near
> dark yet.
> No ear tufts, so not long-eared, and more bulky than GH.
> All I can conclude is Short-eared. But that would be pretty unusual in
> this location?
>
> Thanks
> Ron Bolton
> Berthoud
>
>
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ ---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<6931b9de-63e8-4f39-8d32-24ffa106035en...>