We are ready to “spy on” a nesting Great Horned Owl from the time she positively takes the nest, lays eggs, incubates and rears her owlets. It’s exciting to get an up-close glimpse of this phase in the life of a ‘top of the food chain raptor’.
CBEC wants to share this opportunity with its members, volunteers and community at large! Follow the happenings on bayrestoration.org and click on the owl cam icon on the home page. This will take you to the camera which is on 24/7 with sound. We are actually 2’ from the bird when observing. It does get addicting, just a warning!
Here is a rough timeline. Remember these birds work on their own internal clocks, so here are a range of activities.
- Now till the end of January or beginning of February, the birds (both male and female) will be checking on the nest periodically. They are not there all of the time, but visit to ‘keep an eye on their core territory.’
- End of January through February 15th possible laying of the eggs (usually 2 eggs about 2 days apart.) The female will start incubating with the laying of the first egg. It’s cold and she cannot let the egg(s) chill, so she is in constant attendance. This goes on for 32-35 days. Not a lot of action will be seen, as she may shift position; but, will be incubating constantly.
- If eggs are viable (fertile, not chilled and development occurs) hatching should occur somewhere in the middle to end of March. She will brood (stay sitting with the owlets under her staying warm) for about a week. So, you might only get a quick glimpse of the chicks (owlets) if they poke heads out from under the female.
- End of March owlets are able to maintain their own body temperature, so the female may leave the nest for short hunting forays. Chicks look like they are unattended, but the female is always within “eyeshot.”
- In April and May there can be lots of nest activity with the owlets getting their “nest legs.” They will be hopping around, sleeping, picking on each other, feeding and growing rapidly.
- Eventually after you see the owlets moving to different branches, getting stronger, flapping wings; they are soon ready to leave the nest.
As a side note, the owls don’t pay attention to the camera. It’s just another “thing” hanging on the tree…no relevance to them. At night an infrared light is on, so we can observe, but owls do not “see” or recognize infrared light. So, all is taken into consideration for the welfare of the birds. Enjoy and marvel.
That’s the cycle in a nutshell. Check out the owl cam and watch what happens. Also, one of our volunteers, Adele Claggett, has been recording the behavior of the male and female since December 1, 2021. To view these videos, go to birding.pictures and see what our owls have been up to during the pair bonding and pre-nesting stages. If you have any questions, connect with Judy Wink
Executive Director Emeritusat [email protected].
Julie Susman says
There is at least one Great Horned Owl living in the pine woods in my neighbor’s yard. The whole neighborhood knows this because last year a rather large – but not fledged – owlet fell to the ground when the nest was toppled during a storm. It appeared that a wing was damaged. End of a very long story is that the owlet went to an owl rehab center after spending weeks visiting neighbors and sitting on our porches, bikes, and front steps! It could fly – for brief and low destinations.
Lately I’ve noticed “who whooing” during the days and evenings, pretty much of the time. One day there was about an hour of crows screaming and owl who whooing – not sure if the owl was making a move on the crows, but they were pretty cranky.
These owls are magnificent and I look forward to watching this video and also hoping for a successful hatching and fledglings flying success of my great horned owl neighbors.