![]() The parents will continue to feed and care for their offspring for several months, often as late as October. In another three weeks, the young owls will already have learned to fly. Six weeks after hatching, the owlets will leave the nest and walk around. Within a month, up to five eggs will hatch and the owlets will be closely guarded by their parents. The female will incubate the eggs while her mate brings her food. Great horned owls start nesting in January, raising their families in the dead of winter. How Does the Great Horned Owl Raise its Young? Such a maneuver makes it almost impossible for prey to hear it advance. Its wing feathers are comb-like with a soft fringe that helps reduces the sound of air rushing through them as such the great horned owl is more apt to glide than flap its wings. The talons of this owl can extend to a size of 4x8 inches and can close down on its prey with the force of almost thirty pounds. ![]() Watching from a perch above, the owl will quietly swoop down on passing prey and seize its meal. The great horned owl is a fierce hunter that prefers the sit-and-wait approach. These feathers allow the owl to hear even the smallest sound (like a mouse squeaking) up to 900 feet away in places such as our Big Walnut Nature Preserve. Their large ears are covered by special feathers and are located behind the facial dish feathers. Owls also catch their prey by using their sense of hearing. Its hooked beak does not interfere with its binocular vision, which helps determine the distance of its prey. An owl can not only see what is right in front of it, but can turn its head over halfway around to see what is behind it. ![]() Like most owls, the great horned has keen hearing and sharp vision in low light, both adaptations for hunting at night. Owls are mostly nocturnal creatures that can, at times, be spotted in the late afternoon or early morning. Distinguished by its large size (its wingspan is 4 - 5 feet from tip to tip) and its feather tufts resembling horns (and often mistaken for its ears), it isn’t hard to see why this grand bird stands out from the rest. The coloring of its body-hues of browns and grays with black bar markings – allow its white throat to show prominently. Its big, yellow eyes are often compared to those of a cat, and are amplified by an orange facial disk outlined in black. The great horned owl, the most powerful of the common owls, is a stunning creature. What Makes the Great Horned Owl So Special?
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