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Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

Ricky Layson, Forest Resource Consultants, Inc., www.forestryimages.org

Length: 18-24 in.
Habitat: scrub areas, woodlands; deserts, canyons, bottomlands

This daring and adaptable species, found virtually throughout the Americas, will attack any medium-sized animal or bird—porcupine or skunk, duck or grouse. In North Americ the Great Horned Owl begins to breed in the cold of winter. Two or three eggs are laid, usually in the old nest of a large hawk or crow, sometimes in a hollow tree or a cave. Calls are many and various, but the common one is a seris of muffled hoots—hoo, hoo-hoo, hoooo-hoo. The males voice is higher-pitched than the female's, and a pair in concert seem to harmonize, often in thirds.