15 January 2024
Nice horned owls (Bubo virginianus) by no means construct a nest. As a substitute they take over a big stick nest that another person constructed — that of a red-tailed hawk, osprey or bald eagle. Ideally the unique proprietor shouldn’t be current on the time, which is normally the case as a result of nice horned owls are the earliest to nest(*).
In Pennsylvania they declare a nest as early as mid December and lay eggs as early as 22 January. By the point the unique proprietor discovers the owls in residence, it’s normally too late to make a fuss. Nice horned owls are highly effective and assault silently at evening.
There’s an outdated bald eagle nest on digicam on the Hilton Head Island Land Belief which eagles haven’t reclaimed since they misplaced two eaglets there. As a substitute a pair of nice horned owls took over the nest and the feminine is already incubating two eggs.
Watch the nest on the Hilton Head Island Land Belief Raptorcam. Comply with their newest information on Hilton Head Island Land Belief’s Fb web page.
Three years in the past our personal Hays eagles had an amazing horned owl drawback. Right here’s a visit down reminiscence lane:
In February and March 2021 an amazing horned owl harassed the Hays bald eagles, apparently attempting to chase them away even after they had been incubating eggs. The owl went as far as to silently knock the male eagle off his roost on the evening of two March! Ultimately the Hays eagles prevailed.
(*) There’s just one hen in Pennsylvania that nests sooner than an amazing horned owl and that’s as a result of it nests 12 months a yr (or 366 throughout this bissextile year). Click on right here to see who it’s.
p.s. Because of Mary DeVaughn for sending me information of the HHI Raptorcam.
