Great Horned Owls Already on Eggs

Great horned owl on nest, Merritt Island, Florida, January 2011 (photo by Chuck Tague)

30 January 2025

Great horned owls (Bubo virginianus) are the first birds to nest in Pennsylvania each year(*). They start courting in late fall and become really intense in December when you often hear them hooting in the woods and suburbs.  By January or February they’ve chosen a nest site and the female lays her eggs.

Since great horned owls never build a nest they often take over an old red-tailed hawk nest and that’s what they did at this bridge in Oakland. Ankur and Wenting saw the pair last Sunday 26 January.

The female owl is the only one who incubates, so she’s on the nest in the photo. Look closely behind and above her and you will see her mate perched on a horizontal girder. He feeds her at night and roosts near her during the day.

According to eBirder Andy Georgeson, this female has been on the nest since around 8 January:

[Great horned owl] continuing – I have now observed this owl on the old red tail hawk nest for the last 3 weeks. … This morning the owl was mobbed by 2 Ravens and displayed a defensive posture while in the nest before the Ravens flew off.

eBird Checklist comment from Andy Georgeson, 29 Jan 2025, 7:30am

Look at old red-tailed hawk nests near you for some ear tufts sticking up. If you see them, don’t get too close!  You don’t want to tangle with Mama owl!

Great horned owl on nest in March 2020 (photo by Steve Gosser)

p.s. The nest pictured at top is an old osprey nest in Florida, claimed by a great horned owl.

(*)First to nest: Pigeons nest all year long in Pennsylvania. They never have an off season.

4 thoughts on “Great Horned Owls Already on Eggs

  1. Your photo of the owl on the nest on the utility pole reminds me of a utility pole outside my bedroom window. One rainy night, the osprey nest on that pole caught on fire. The fire truck had a heck of a time putting it out. Of course, people lost electricity service for a while. It was very dramatic. The osprey came back and tried to build a nest there again and tried on the other side of the bridge. The electric company eventually put a guard over the spot. I don’t know where they finally nested.

  2. OMG we have a lot of different owl where I live and there everywhere I got to see two great gray owl they landed on the fence and broke it but I became very obsessed with them we have a lot of great horns owl and there so big I’ve never seen so many as huge as these one they are really cool I’m glad I found a new hobbie so this is the best town ever to owl watch that’s for sure so so cool

  3. I heard them often in the woods near my house in December and early January. Usually towards morning, like around 4 AM which is when I have been awake many times for quite a lot of years. I never knew they nested so early but now I understand what was happening! And no, I have not heard them for a few weeks. I had to be away from January 18, 7 PM to January 28 at 2 PM. It is February 5 Noon right now and I have not herd the great horned owls at all since I got back to my place 8 days ago. Thank you for the article and photos!

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