The Great Horned Owl Facts:
What does this owl eat? The food of Great Horned Owls eats a lot of large rodents and rabbits, but they can take prey as large as skunks. They will also snack on lizards, frogs, and fish. An owl is a bird of prey, which means they use their powerful feet and sharp talons (toe nails) to grab and kill their prey. The grip of the Great Horned Owl is believed to be more powerful than any other North American bird of prey.
Where do they nest? They will often use a former nest of a large bird such as hawk or a crow. Of course, they also like large hollow trees when they can find them. They do not build a nest. Instead they just settle in and start laying eggs.
Where do Great Horned Owls Live? Found from the chilly Arctic tundra to the warm tropics of the rainforest, from the desert to suburban backyards, the Great Horned Owl is one of the most widespread and common owls in North America.
One way to locate these owls is to listen to the crows. When a crow discovers a roosting owl it will raise a big ruckus that attracts other crows in the vicinity. They will fly over and join in, squawking and carrying on. Some brave (or stupid!) crows may even dive at the owl to further harass it. If the owl gets tired of all the unwanted attention, it may fly to a different perch, which REALLY gets the crows wound up. The volume of their calls goes up three or four notches and they usually follow the owl wherever it goes to continue the heckling. If you can catch up with this parade, you will locate one of your neighborhood owls (and maybe you can shoo the crows off so the owl can get back to sleep!).
