Although great horned owls are year-round residents of Massachusetts, December through February is a particularly good time to go “owling” for this iconic species.
The earliest owl to begin mating season, great horned owls often “duet” in courting pairs, a hauntingly beautiful, stuttering “hoo-hoo-HOO-hoo-hoo” sound. And while males are typically smaller than females, they have larger voice boxes, so you can identify the male voice in a duet by its distinctively lower pitch.
On our website, you listen to a great horned owl call and even report a sighting. Below, enjoy these five photos of great horned owls from past years of our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest.
Great horned owl © Katherine Sayn-Wittgenstein
Great horned owl © Phil Sorrentino
Juvenile Great Horned Owls © Maureen Fregeau
Juvenile Great Horned Owl © Libby Johnson
Great Horned Owl © Emily Swartz
CORRECTION: This blog post originally featured a photo that was misidentified as a Great Horned Owl but is actually a Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo). Thank you to all the careful readers who pointed out our mistake!
