ML76355671

Age and sex

Adult, Unknown sex - X

Media notes

Great Horned Owl seen near sunset

Observation details

This is the first GHOW i have ever seen (outside an aviary). The owl was sitting upright in a deciduous tree about 10' up from the ground. It looked a little bigger than a Barred owl, but smaller than a GGOW. It had 2 tufts, "ears", on top of its head. They were orangey-rusty at the base, black in front. The owl had yellow eyes, a round face, wide white rings around its eyes, rusty patches on the upper outer edges of the eyes, a black ring around the face disc, and a thin white V from the tufts to the dark gray hooked bill. Under the chin it had a white patch that appeared to be in a V shape, like bib. Its "moustaches" were white and grey speckled. There was fine brown wavy barring on a white chest and belly, browns and gray with white speckles on wings and back. It had white under the tail. There are brown bands on the tail and the terminal band was white. The pattern on the head made it look like tightly curled wool. Overall the bird looked (a slightly grayish) brown with white markings. I only got a brief glimpse of one foot when the bird changed position. It appeared to have white feathers down to the toes with black claws. It was not like the 2 larger owls have seen in the wild. A Barred owl has dark eyes, no tufts, a yellow bill and vertical bars. A Great Gray has a white "moustache", an all white face disc, no tufts and a different brown, besides being bigger.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX B500

ISO

400

Focal length

160 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/80 sec

Dimensions

2306 pixels x 3071 pixels

Original file size

2.71 MB