Great Horned Owls — Family Portrait

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I continue to be very excited about being able to post images of a Great Horned Owl family taken with unobstructed sight lines and in good light.  I observe this family each evening in the hour before sunset and I’m hoping that, ultimately, I’ll get images of the young owls when they fledge.  The images I’m getting of this family really are superior to those that I was able to make of the other owl family that I followed.

Young Great Horned Owls mature at a phenomenal rate.  In just a month or so they progress from tiny hatchlings weighing only an ounce or two to adult-size, weighing between two and three pounds.  My guess is that these youngsters are now between three and four weeks from hatching and that in another week or less they’ll be attempting their maiden flights.  Last night I was able to capture a family portrait of Mom and her two youngsters which shows just how much the kids have matured in the 10 days or so that I’ve been watching them.

The larger of the two owlets is now at least 2/3 its mother’s size.  Both owlets have lost most of their chick down and are rapidly growing in their fledgling feathers.

When a young raptor approaches the point where it is ready to fly it engages in behavior known as “branching.”  Branching involves exploring the nest tree, usually by hopping from branch to branch at first.  That is followed by larger leaps in which the young bird propels itself with a few tentative wing flaps.  Eventually, those maneuvers turn into actual flight, with the fledgling making a maiden attempt, often flying from the nest tree to the nearest tall object.

These owlets are either beginning to branch or are on the cusp of doing so.  It’s a little difficult to judge how active they are because Great Horned Owls are most active in the hours after sunset and just before dawn.  That means that these owlets are probably doing most of their calisthenics under the cover of darkness.  I remain optimistic, however, that I’ll see some branching activity and maybe, a short flight, sometime in the next few days.

Be still, my beating heart.

Image made with a Canon 5Div, 400 DO II lens+1.4x telextender supported by monopod, aperture priority setting, ISO 1600, f 7.1 @ 1/1000.