5 March 2021
If you follow the Hays bald eagle family you know the female is incubating three eggs while her mate guards her overnight. The male has good cause to stay close. A great horned owl has been harassing them!
Almost two weeks ago, on Sunday 21 Feb 2021 at 9:26pm, a great horned owl knocked the male bald eagle off the “woods perch.”
Things seemed to calm down for a week. Then on the night of Tuesday 2 March 2021 the great horned owl came back twice.
- The owl knocked the male bald eagle off the woods perch at 10:33pm. (Click here to see.)
- It returned an hour later to knock the male off a branch close to the nest, shown in the video below.
The Hays bald eagles are probably feeling murderous about that owl right now so I’m sure they’ll like this trail cam video from Washington state in which a great horned owl is attacked by three species in a row!
It’s #WorldWildlifeDay! To celebrate, here’s the most unusual #wildlife interaction I’ve captured w/ a #CameraTrap: a golden eagle attacking a great-horned owl, which were then attacked by a mule deer, followed by a coyote rushing to join in! ? #WAPredatorPreyProject pic.twitter.com/NDAIId8zlg
— Sarah Bassing (@S_Bassing) March 3, 2021
Great horned owls may be everyone’s enemy but they don’t always win.
(screenshot from Pixcams video; click on the caption to see the original)
Ever since I saw the original attack I’ve been worried about the three eggs. Nature’s window but I can’t help rooting for the eagles. I made the mistake of watching several youtube videos on other great horned owl attacks…they do seem to win more often. Hope not this time.
Why does the owl go after the male rather than the nest or eggs?
Mark, I don’t know what the owl is thinking but I have a guess. My guess is that the owl sees the bald eagles as a threat to its own nest and is hitting the eagle that looks most ready to fly (i.e. fly toward the owl nest).
That makes sense. I’ve read that great horned owls are early nesters like bald eagles, with eggs hatching in early March, and are fierce defenders of the owlets.
I didn’t know whether this owl has a nest or a mate or is solitary. In the event he has a nest, which is unlikely without a mate, he had better spend some time in a cave because Dad Eagle has been casing his territory and he’s not looking for game, because that’s in the river.