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Owl Trio Standing Guard

These beautiful young Great Horned Owlets would fly the nest three days later. They had gotten big, and every evening when night fell, they became very active, jumping to the edges of the nest and flapping their wings quite furiously! It was very dark when this photo was taken, even though it may look like daylight, so my camera was not able to capture the tiny detail it would have during the day. But I love this image of the three so much, looking so alive and fierce and ready for action!

Great Horned Owls usually nest in trees such as cottonwood, juniper, pine, and others. They usually don’t build their own nests, instead adopting one that was built by another species, or they also use tree cavities, dead snags, building ledges, or cliff ledges. Both parents bring food for young owls; usually the male brings food and the female feeds the babies, but not always. Young owls may leave the nest and climb on nearby branches at 5 weeks, and they can fly at about 9-10 weeks. After that, they continue to be tended and fed by parents for up to several months.

Photo taken in Boulder, Colorado, on April 27th, 2019