{"id":39594,"date":"2016-05-20T06:06:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-20T12:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39594"},"modified":"2025-05-23T06:05:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T11:05:02","slug":"portrait-of-a-great-horned-owl-chick-in-a-hay-barn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/20\/portrait-of-a-great-horned-owl-chick-in-a-hay-barn\/","title":{"rendered":"Portrait of a Great Horned Owl Chick in a Hay Barn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Horned Owl chick in a hay barn – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/250, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Normally I’d prefer that my bird images were taken in natural locations, in natural light without visible reminders of the “hand of man” but I feel like I must remember that birds are creatures of free will, that they go where ever they want to and that many species will take advantage of nest boxes built and provided by humans.<\/p>\n

This portrait of a Great Horned Owl chick in a hay barn might not have been taken in the most aesthetically pleasing location but I don’t think the owlet gives a hoot about the rusty iron beams and corrugated metal walls. Because the adult owls used the man made nest box this owlet has had a safe, dry location while it learns to use its wings and will grow up to become one of the most powerful predators of the sky.<\/p>\n

The setting might not be perfect but I couldn’t stop myself from taking images of this young Great Horned Owl with its large, lemony yellow eyes, tiny ear tufts and super fluffy looking plumage. How could I resist photographing such a regal looking creature?<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This portrait of a Great Horned Owl chick in a hay barn might not have been taken in the most aesthetically pleasing location but I don’t think the owlet gives a hoot about the rusty iron beams and corrugated metal walls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,209,26],"tags":[2663,4203,4134,11978,4141,4108,5151,4067,4071,5152,4893,3967,4455,294,4353,4046,165,4193],"class_list":["post-39594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-great-horned-owls","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-chick","tag-desert-island","tag-fledgling","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-hay-barn","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-man-made","tag-nest-boxes","tag-owl","tag-owlet","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-portrait","tag-spring","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-hay-barn-mia-mcpherson-1773.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aiC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46933,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/26\/winking-great-horned-owl-in-a-hay-barn\/","url_meta":{"origin":39594,"position":0},"title":"Winking Great Horned Owl in a Hay Barn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I photographed one of the adult Great Horned Owls at the hay barn on Antelope Island State Park that appeared to be winking.","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":"Winking Great Horned Owl, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-winking-mia-mcpherson-8731.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-winking-mia-mcpherson-8731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-winking-mia-mcpherson-8731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-winking-mia-mcpherson-8731.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":39594,"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 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Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.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-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27855,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/28\/great-horned-owl-chick-on-honeymoon-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":39594,"position":3},"title":"Great Horned Owl Chick On Honeymoon Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent about three months in 2008 watching a Great Horned Owl nest on Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida from hatching until this young owl fledged.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Horned Owl chick in a nest on Honeymoon Island State Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-0678.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-chick-mia-mcpherson-0678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-0678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50966,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/13\/great-horned-owl-at-nest-box-human-made-nests-are-helping-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":39594,"position":4},"title":"Great Horned Owl at Nest Box – Human Made Nests Are Helping Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Human made nest boxes, nest baskets, birdhouses, nest shelves and nest platforms can and do help many species of birds in all types of habitats.","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 nest box 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Barn, Burrowing, Great Horned and Short-eared Owls are the owls that I photograph most often here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Short-eared Owl resting in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}