Why not go owling tonight – too cold? Not for the owls. We are so lucky in this region, in that we share the area with the largest owl in Canada, the Great Horned Owl. Not only are they fairly common, they begin the process of setting up their nest and start laying eggs earlier than any other bird here, with the exception of city pigeons! So, put your hat and coat on and head out to areas with large trees and listen – whoo, who, who, whoo, whoo – have you heard them calling?
The male calls to his mate, “Come on over dear, the nest looks cozy tonight.” Their nests are often last year’s crow, heron or squirrel nests, with a few additions. They cannot re-use their own nests, since the wear and tear of a healthy brood of owlets on the nest is something like that in a houseful of young teenage humans.
Courtship starts in December or January and by February things are getting serious – eggs are often laid by the end of the month. Some 26 to 30 days later the little owlets begin to hatch. Now, we are still talking cold weather here, just imagine a March snowfall and you are stuck sitting on your nest – no chance of moving and dependent on the male to keep you and your new babes fed. If the food is available, she may be able to rear her 2 or 3 youngsters, but that means a great deal of work and food must be plentiful. Food can be anything from mice, rabbits and skunks (don’t forget birds have either no or a poor sense of smell, so the skunks odour doesn’t protect it from the Great Horned Owl) to birds, even other predatory birds.
