{"id":133770,"date":"2024-09-04T02:51:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T07:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=133770"},"modified":"2024-09-04T20:35:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T01:35:43","slug":"great-horned-owl-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/04\/great-horned-owl-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Horned Owl Mystery – Things That Go Hoot In The Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning, while it was still pitch dark outside, I heard a bird call. Then, I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting. I soon had a mystery on my hands.<\/p>\n

I had left the door open a crack because it was cooler outside than inside, and it felt wonderful. Sitting in front of my laptop near the door, I was working on my site when I heard a strange bird call that I didn’t recognize, followed soon after by the call of a Great Horned Owl.<\/p>\n

I grabbed my phone, turned on my Merlin app<\/span><\/a>, opened the door wider, and began to record the calls. I wanted to identify the bird call that I didn’t recognize.<\/p>\n

In just seconds, I heard what sounded like the Great Horned Owl attacking the mystery bird that was making the other call.<\/p>\n

Take a listen to what I heard. You may need to turn your device volume way up to hear it.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/great-horned-owl-and-mystery-bird-call.wav<\/a><\/audio><\/div>\n

Wow, it sounded like that bird who had been making the odd call was a goner to me!<\/p>\n

I got curious. I wanted to identify the call I had heard so I shared the audio file I had created to the American Birding Association’s Facebook group “What’s This Bird<\/span><\/a>” and to iNaturalist<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I got the answer I needed from my iNaturalist submission of the audio file. So what was the bird making the strange calls?<\/p>\n

A young Great Horned Owl!<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Horned Owl<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m guessing that what sounded like the Great Horned Owl attacking the other bird was actually a parent bringing food to their young.<\/p>\n

The sounds are consistent with what I have heard in the field when adult Great Horned Owls have brought food to their young in the nest. I’d just forgotten those sounds since I heard them last in 2008! My memory has been rebooted and reactivated.<\/p>\n

It was too dark to photograph the owls, so instead, I am sharing an older image of a Great Horned Owl I found and photographed at Antelope Island State Park in the fall of 2011.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to view more of my Great Horned Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning, while it was still pitch dark outside, I heard a bird call. Then, I heard a Great Horned Owl hooting. I soon had a mystery on my hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,13950,27,209,13951,26],"tags":[4004,15658,970,2663,4203,11978,4620,4070,4108,3967,294,4104,153,5153],"class_list":["post-133770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-great-horned-owls","category-sebastian-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-audio","tag-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-desert-island","tag-fall","tag-female","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-tamarisk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/great-horned-owl-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1018.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-yNA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166260,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/01\/bringing-in-2026-with-a-great-horned-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":133770,"position":0},"title":"Bringing in 2026 With A Great Horned Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"My first bird of the year was a Great Horned Owl I heard around 4:35 this morning. I never saw them, but that call cut through the New Year darkness.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl adult on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-adult-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8190.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":122678,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-in-coastal-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":133770,"position":1},"title":"Great Horned Owl Chick In Coastal Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This image of a Great Horned Owl chick resting near its nest on the coast Florida in lovely afternoon light brings back wonderful memories for me. It was 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl chick in coastal Florida, Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-young-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-0661.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141289,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/07\/nearly-hidden-great-horned-owl-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":133770,"position":2},"title":"Nearly Hidden Great Horned Owl At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last month, while at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I spotted a nearly hidden Great Horned Owl perched in a tangle of branches in the woods.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl nearly hidden at 100mm, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/great-horned-owl-hidden-mia-mcpherson-6173.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/15\/great-horned-owls-and-horned-larks-birds-with-ear-tufts\/","url_meta":{"origin":133770,"position":3},"title":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great Horned Owl on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62233,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/27\/dreaming-of-a-great-horned-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":133770,"position":4},"title":"Dreaming Of A Great Horned Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Anyone who knows me at all knows that I think about birds a lot. I think about birds in the morning, at noon, before the sun goes down and I even dream about them at night.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roosting Great Horned Owl, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/great-horned-owl-building-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-8698.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/great-horned-owl-building-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-8698.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/great-horned-owl-building-thumbnail-mia-mcpherson-8698.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127064,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/03\/save-owls-by-not-using-rodent-poisons\/","url_meta":{"origin":133770,"position":5},"title":"Save Owls By Not Using Rodent Poisons","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Since spring's arrival, people will be spending time outdoors, and more people will be seeing rats in their yards and gardens. 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