27 March 2025
This week Dana Nesiti is having a great time observing Schenley Park’s great horned owl family. Yesterday was exceptional when he found and photographed all four family members and confirmed the well-being of both youngsters. See the complete story in Dana’s Facebook post here.
Dana’s photo contains:
- Top left: Historical perspective: Mother and two youngsters more than a month ago approx 23 Feb.
- Top right: Mother owl and Muppet on the same branch on 26 March.
- Bottom left: Father owl perched high above Sibling on 26 March.
- Bottom right: Sibling on 26 March.
Who is Schenley Park’s great horned owl family?
We don’t know much about the parents except that a pair of great horned owls has nested year after year in various locations in or near the park. In late March 2016 an owlet was rescued in Schenley after it fluttered to the ground from the nearby Anderson Bridge.
This year’s two owlets are celebrities, easy to tell apart because they have different markings and even different personalities.
Muppet a.k.a. “Muppet the Marauder” is the whiter of the two youngsters. She fell 100′ from the nest on 27 February and was rescued and taken to Tamarack Wildlife Center where she acquired her nickname. Tamarack returned her to Schenley Park on 11 March where she branched for a couple of days and soon began making short flights from branch to branch and tree to tree. Tamarack says she has the personality of an avid explorer. At this point Muppet has been flying for about two weeks.
Sibling, whose sex is unknown, stayed in the nest until 24 March and was seen making short flights the next day. Sibling is cautious compared to Muppet. Dana captured him/her making a flying leap.
True to her personality Muppet flew much sooner than I expected. Sibling more is in line with my flight-date predictions.
If you want to find the owls in Schenley Park I suggest you look for the photographers or listen for blue jays. Both are good indications that an owl is nearby. 
Do we know why muppet is a different color?
We don’t know the sex of Sibling but here are a few possible reasons why she looks different.
* Great horned owls vary in color anyway, depending on where they’re from. For instance, much paler in Arizona than here. Birds of the World says “Geographic variation in appearance is moderate and complex.”
* Muppet’s parents are slightly different in color: the female’s chest is a richer russet color than her mate whose chest is whitish with plain brown markings. This may be a slight sexual dimorphic difference or something they inherited from their own parents.
* Muppet looks paler right now because, even though she’s fully feathered, she still has more down on her chest and the top of her head. This could be an age difference because she and Sibling would have hatched at least a couple of days apart if not longer.
Thank You