SPECIAL FEATURE
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Great
Horned Owls in Manitoba
SPECIAL FEATURE
The special feature is changed regularly. Click on the top banner to return to my home page. The current feature is:
Great
Horned Owls in Manitoba
The photo below shows a pair in winter. The female is on the right (larger and, in this case, paler). This pair exhibit some of the typical range of colour variation found in Manitoba. This photo was taken in November and this pair initiated nesting in January, which may explain why they are roosting so close together (and looking so handsome!).
This mild winter of 2006 saw some exceptionally early nests in Manitoba with laying beginning in mid January. Egg laying in 2007 in Winnipeg did not begin until February (which is still early compared to long-term averages). Can you see the remains of an Eastern Cottontail in one nest? Most of the nesting efforts I have observed in our area have produced two chicks (two examples below).
However, there are exceptions! (Oh, and if you are wondering what all the fuss is, I believe the one in the middle is protesting the disturbance to the Bois des Esprits)
Not rabbit again mum! Actually suburban owls have quite a diverse diet and they have not apparently made a dent in the cottontail population (as many gardeners constantly point out to me).
Out of the nest! The leftmost chick fledged on 31st March 2006 (earliest recorded fledging in Manitoba) and tried hard to maintain an air of humility when photographed on their first night out... or is that befuddlement?
From their first seemingly timid short hops out of the nest, they must quickly learn to fly. Flight brings many adventures but landing always seems the most difficult task to master. They even have to learn one of life's lessons that I struggle with, viz. to get upright again sometimes you have to let go first!
These are some orf the 2007 youngsters. By mid August they have all but completed their first prebasic moult and look like their parents. They may still hang out together for a while longer, sometimes striking poetic poses... and still sometimes getting up to mischief!
This family unit was still intact in mid September 2007. In the photo of the youngster stretching (left) notice the somewhat pointed shape and uniform wear of the remiges indicating a hatch year bird. In the photo on the right, mum (upper right) does not seem too impressed with her wee-un's antics.
...and, in the blink of an eye, they are off to terrorise the night sky... gracefully!
...and purposely!
