Pair Bonding Stage
Great horned owls are monogamous (they mate for life). Outside of the breeding season they are both in the same territory but they generally are not together - hunting, roosting, etc. At the start of the breeding season (the first stage) they reestablish their relationship, known as pair bonding. During pair bonding the following activities take place:
The female checks the nest.
They will begin vocalizing - to each other and to establish territory. Early during this stage it will be a call similar to the call the juvenile makes. Later during this stage and/or into the next stage they will begin hooting.
They may begin roosting together.
The male will bring her food.
First nest visit observed. She arrived at 5:21.02PM and left at 5:23.47PM.
Time on nest - Approximately 2 minutes
Weather: Overcast, 40F S winds, 7mph, gusts 9mph
09 December 2021
Watch the Video -
Note: There is no sound (it was not recording sound at the time).
The male came to the nest with prey at 2:11.17AM. The female then came to the nest at 2:12.08AM and took the prey item (Norway rat), he immediately flew off the nest. She spent the next two and a half hours on the nest. She ate the prey, slept, walked around the nest and vocalized. She left at 4:42.41AM.
Time on nest - Approximately 2 hours, 31 minutes
Weather: Partly cloudy, 43F W winds, 6mph, gusts 8mph
At 5:20.57AM the male/female returns to the nest. Looks at and walks around the nest, leaving at 5:23.27AM.
Time on nest - Approximately 3 minutes
The photo stamped “12-14-21 Tue 02:17:26” is the female.
Weather: Clear, 48F NE winds, 5mph, gusts 8mph
14 December
Watch the Video -
The video covers the time the nest was visited the second time on 14 Dec, at 5:20.57AM.
Note: There is no sound (camera was not recording sound at the time).
The male came to the nest with prey at 8:05.27PM. The female then came to the nest at 08:06.27PM and took the prey item (unidentified rodent), he immediately flew off the nest. She did not eat the prey; she vocalized as she watched the nest area. She left at 8:10.28PM.
The photo stamped “12-15-2021 Wed 20:06:43” is the male with the prey item.
Time on nest - Approximately 5 minutes
Weather: Overcast, 48F S winds, 4mph, gusts 5mph
15 December
Food exchange.
Male on the left, female on the right.
Watch the video -
Note: There is a slight sound delay.
21 December
Calls were heard beginning about 6:00PM.
This full clip is actually 1 minute, 13 seconds. There are 5 calls.
1st to 2nd is 6 seconds.
2nd to 3rd is 19 seconds.
3rd to 4th is 37 seconds.
4th to 5th is 30 seconds.
I trimmed it so the clip you hear is only 12 seconds.
Weather: Overcast, 41F E winds, 6mph, gusts 9mph
23 December
During the time frame between 4:59PM and 5:31PM 4 calls were heard.
Vocalization was very active through the nights of Dec 24 and 25.
24 December
Calls started at 9:52PM and were somewhat constant until 10:47PM.
25 December AM
The calls started back up at 12:32AM and continued till 12:55AM. There was a single call at 1:15AM. - Stopped monitoring shortly after that single call.
Weather: Intermittent rain, 53F W winds 9mph, gusts 17mph
The calls in the clip below are NOT condensed.
25 December PM
There were a couple of calls at 5:30PM. Then at 7:44PM calls began and stayed constant until 9:46PM.
Weather: Mostly cloudy to light rain, 53F W winds, 10mph, gusts 15mph
26 December AM
Calls started again at 1:20AM, continued until 1:26AM. Stopped monitoring at 2:00AM.
Weather: Partly cloudy, 51F NW winds, 11mph, gusts 21mph
26 December PM
The calls this evening were more distant and much less frequent. It started at 5:18PM and ended at 7:45PM. Stopped monitoring at 11:50PM.
Weather: Clear, 46F S winds 9mph, gusts 16mph
29 December AM
Calls started at 2:24AM, stopped at 2:35AM. The calls started again at 2:40AM for about 3 minutes.
Weather: Overcast, 46F E winds 8mph, gusts 12mph
29 December PM
Faint calls were heard at 4:49PM till 5:09PM. Rain started soon after and continued through the night.
30 December PM
Calls began at 5:39PM and were distant, this continued for approximately 30 minutes. Then at 6:23PM it started again and was closer. At 6:43PM it was very close and frequent.
The following recording is from 7:19PM. The original clip is 1.22 minutes. I have trimmed the clip. There are 3 calls, time between calls -
1st to 2nd call - 13 seconds
2nd to 3rd call - 28 seconds
Weather: Overcast, 48F SE winds, 3mph, gusts 5mph
At 7:28PM the calls were slightly farther away and at 7:33PM there were what sounded like multiple calls. This clip is not trimmed.
At 8:48PM the calls became very distant. Calls stopped at 9:48PM.
31 December PM
Calls started early, before sunset at 5:13PM. They started close to the nest but got farther away at approximately 5:36PM. Calls were heard on and off into the night.
Weather: Overcast, 48F SE winds 6mph, gusts 10mph
1-3 January 2022 PM
The camera stopped working at 6:25PM on 01/01/22. This is due to the fact we have had multiple overcast days in a row and the camera’s battery has not been able to fully charge. It stops working after a few hours and has no sound.
4 January PM
We had sunlight today so the camera worked for a longer period, although there is still no sound. At 8:46.50PM he came to the nest with a prey item. He appears to be calling her, then left the nest at 8:54.05PM with the prey.
Time on nest - Approximately 8 minutes
Weather: Clear, 30F SE winds 7mph, gusts 15mph
Watch the Video -
The video covers the time the nest was visited on 04 Jan, at 8:46.50PM.
Note: There is no sound (cam not recording sound at the time).
