Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl that's been hanging around the Ramble in Central Park may have moved away - either to the north of the park or to seek a mate. There are great pictures of the bird here, here and here.
Every winter Central Park seems to produce one or more birding specials. Last year a boreal owl showed up on the Christmas bird count - as did the great horned owl this year. That small owl was a true rarity - some of the park's long-time veteran birders had never seen one. The boreal showed up shortly after a yellow breasted chat hung around for a week or so near Strawberry Fields. (In Prospect Park, we had a ring-necked pheasant that hung around most of the winter).
The wonderful thing about this great horned owl was that instead of hiding in the top of a dense conifer where you could just about barely see it, the bird roosted right out in the open - on the bare branches of lindens, oaks and other deciduous trees. As a result, it attracted the attention of squirrels, crows (which have almost disappeared from Central Park apparently due to west nile virus) and even red tailed hawks (note the crow in the background of this photo).
When I first saw this owl, I could not believe its size. The great horned owl is 22 inches long - a red tail hawk is just 19 inches long. (The red tail has a longer wingspan - 49 inches to 44 inches - but weighs much less. A great horned owl weighs just over three pounds. A red tail weighs less than 2.5 pounds).
About two weeks ago, I went to the Ramble to see the owl "fly out" at dusk. It was an awesome experience - the first time I had ever seen a great horned owl fly. It eventually headed off for the Lake - where it's rumored to have fed on mallards. In fact, it's apparently a threat to the park's beloved red tails as well.
In any event, I have to confess that I was a little sad when I didn't see the great horned owl today in the Ramble. Later, I took a walk in Prospect Park and I did see a long eared owl there - it was high up in a pine, carefully concealed, and you could just about barely see it. As a final tribute to the great horned - here's some of Audubon's characteristically vivid account of this bird:
Early in February the Great Horned Owls are seen to pair. The curious evolutions of the male in the air, or his motions when he has alighted near his beloved, it is impossible to describe. His bowings, and the snappings of his bill, are extremely ludicrous; and no sooner is the female assured that the attentions paid her by the beau are the result of a sincere affection, than she joins in the motions of her future mate.
This species is very powerful, and equally spirited. It attacks Wild Turkeys when half grown, and often masters them. Mallards, Guinea-fowls, and common barn fowls, prove an easy prey, and on seizing them it carries them off in its talons from the farm-yards to the interior of the woods. When wounded, it exhibits a revengeful tenacity of spirit, scarcely surpassed by any of the noblest of the Eagle tribe, disdaining to scramble away like the Barred Owl but facing its enemy with undaunted courage, protruding its powerful talons, and snapping its bill, as long as he continues in its presence. On these occasions, its large goggle eyes are seen to open and close in quick succession, and the feathers of its body, being raised, swell out its apparent bulk to nearly double the natural size.
By the way, I've linked to quite a few sites about this owl. The sites created and maintained by Marie Winn and Bruce Yolton's new site are particularly wonderful.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home