The great horned owl is an impressive bird, measuring up to 25 inches from head to tail, with a four-foot wingspread.  In North America, only the snowy owl and the great gray owl are sometimes larger.  Even if heard and not seen, the great horned owl’s stature is discernible.  The four to eight resonant “hoots”  of both males and females can be heard for a considerable distance, even though they have a slightly muffled quality.   Not only its impressive size distinguishes this bird.  According to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the great horned owl has the most extensive range, largest variety of prey and most variable nesting sites of any owl in North America.

Hard as it may be to believe, the great horned owl’s courtship begins as early as January in the Northeast, and the female is often sitting on eggs by February. Photographs have been taken of great horned owls incubating their eggs while covered with snow.  These birds do not usually build their own nest, rather they seek shelter in which to lay their eggs, primarily in the unoccupied tree nests of other species of birds, particularly the abandoned stick nests of diurnal birds of prey.  Red-tailed hawk nests are preferable, but those of crows, ravens, herons, eagles, ospreys and squirrels are also used.  Occasionally they will nest inside a tree cavity or on top of a dead stump.

Any owl nesting this early in the year has to have a hardy constitution, which the great horned owl most certainly does.  Research shows that they are able to incubate eggs successfully, keeping them at a toasty 99 degrees Fahrenheit, when the ambient temperature is -27 degrees F.

While rabbits and hares are their favored prey, great horned owls also hunt other birds such as ruffed grouse and ducks, snakes, amphibians, insects and even skunks and porcupines.  Anyone who has the good fortune of being within smelling distance of a great horned owl, has a good chance of detecting the distinctive odor of a skunk, as the leg feathers of the predatory owl absorb the smell of this odoriferous prey.

One of the easiest ways to locate a great horned owl is to follow the cries of mobbing American crows and blue jays, which often tend to gather and harass owls during the day.  At this time the great horned owl is trying to rest, and often sits silently, attempting to ignore the raucous mob surrounding it.  Frequently, roosting great horned owls can be found perching close to the trunk of a tree, in the middle of its crown.