Wildlife Center to showcase owls next month
On a cold winter night while stargazing, I heard two owls calling in the distance, one with a deeper voice. It was a rhythmic series of hooting — hoohoohoo hoohoo hoo. A male and female great horned owl were serenading one another.
These large (four-foot wingspan), fearsome nocturnal hunters are one of the most common owls in North America and range from the Arctic to the tropics. They are at home in deserts, wetlands, forests and grasslands, as well as in cities and backyards.
They have large ear tufts called plumicorns, an intimidating, yellow-eyed stare and brown to gray facial feathers. They have large eyes with pupils that open wide in the dark. Their retinas contain many rod cells for outstanding night vision. Their eyes are 35 times more sensitive than ours and can see objects with only 5% of the light that a human needs. Couple that with very sensitive hearing — facial disc feathers direct sound waves to their ears, and their ear holes are located at different heights and help them identify direction and distance better than symmetrically placed ears. They can hear a mouse stepping on a twig 75 feet away! Extra vertebra in their neck (14 versus seven for humans) allow them to rotate their head 270 degrees in search of prey.
As if these acute senses are not enough, they can fly almost silently due to a unique feather structure to ambush prey that consists of mostly birds and mammals such as rats, mice, rabbits and skunks. There is absolutely no “whooshing” when they fly. Short, wide wings also allow them to deftly maneuver among a forest of trees. As a side note, please do not use rat poisons, as it could result in the painful deaths of owls and other birds of prey who feed on mice and rats.
Once great horned owls spot a largesized prey, their strong talons come into play. A force of nearly 30 pounds is required to open their talons. They use this deadly grip to sever the spines of prey that are sometimes larger than the owl. Great horned owls cough up pellets of undigested bones, fur and feathers of their prey. These 3- to 4-inch pellets accumulate on the ground under their roosting spots.
Mating season begins in January or February. Typically, two to three eggs are laid, with a four-week incubation period. The young leave the nest at five weeks, climbing out on nearby branches, and are flight-capable at nine to 20 weeks.
While I have heard them, I haven’t spotted a great horned owl in the vicinity of our home. If you are interested in meeting a great horned owl up close and personal, find your way to the New Mexico Wildlife Center in Española. A great time to do that will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 11, during their Wildlife Rehabilitation Discovery Day.
There will be interactive hands-on displays and encounters with “ambassador animals,” including great horned owls Oscar and Bubo. Oscar has been at the Wildlife Center since 1984, when she was found in a nest in Tesuque, the sole survivor of a pellet gun attack. Pellets were removed from her right wing, body and left eye. As a result, Oscar has limited flight and sight and could not be returned to the wild. She is the oldest animal at the Wildlife Center and continues to be a wonderful ambassador animal.
While at the Wildlife Center, you can also get a peek behind the scenes at the wildlife hospital. There are currently three great horned owls at the hospital undergoing rehab from head and eye trauma and burns. The Wildlife Center does wonderful, amazing work. Come and see for yourself.
Ken Bunkowski and his son, Matt, are co-owners of Wild Birds Unlimited in Santa Fe and look forward to sharing the joy that birds bring into our lives.