Great Horned Owl
Bubo virginianus
The tiger of the night sky. A heavy, ear-tufted owl with a four-foot wingspan and a grip strong enough to crush a rabbit's skull.
Browse the Woodcut Wild shop →Habitat
Great horned owls thrive in nearly every habitat in the Americas — old-growth forest, suburban parks, desert canyons, prairie shelterbelts. They roost in dense conifers by day and hunt from low perches at night.
Behavior
They are versatile, fearless predators that will take prey from beetles to skunks to other raptors — they are the only consistent predator of skunks in North America. Pairs call in late winter, with the male's deeper hoot and the female's higher answer forming a duet that carries through cold air.
Marginalia
- Their grip strength is roughly 500 psi — enough to sever a spine.
- They can rotate their heads 270 degrees in either direction.
- The ear tufts are not ears at all; they are display feathers used for communication and camouflage.
- They often steal nests from red-tailed hawks rather than build their own.
