Tag: great horned owl

Watch: Great horned owl repels crow ‘mob assault’

A Wisconsin filmmaker has captured rare footage showing a great horned owl deflecting a direct hit to the face by a marauding crow, and standing its ground during a prolonged “crow mob assault.”

A Wisconsin filmmaker has captured rare footage showing a great horned owl absorbing a direct hit to the face by a marauding crow, and standing its ground during a prolonged “crow mob assault.”

Freddy Moyano was observing a great horned owl nest in east Green Bay in late March when crows began to harass the male owl – 10 feet from a nest with mom and owlets – in an attempt to drive the large raptor from the area.

The first video accompanying this post shows the direct assault in slow motion, and viewers will note that the owl turns its head just in time to defend against the incoming threat. The second video, featuring beautiful footage of the owl, captures the overall scene and the dynamics of this type of situation.

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Crows routinely harass owls and other raptors, even though great horned owls consider crows to be prey. But harassment typically involves dive-bombing and incessant cawing, and sometimes pecking, rather than direct bodily strikes.

“This is a very unusual thing to encounter,” Moyano, who posts weekly videos to his Wisconsin wildlife channel, told For The Win Outdoors. “I’ve seen them do this with hawks, but with great horned owls it’s much less frequent.”

As Moyano states in the second video, great horned owls stock their nest with freshly killed prey to prevent hungry chicks from killing each other during competition for food. This attracts crows, which gang up in the hope one or both parents will fly away long enough for crows to nab carrion or young owlets from the nest.

Moyano, who recently captured footage of a short-eared owl clobbering a northern harrier with an in-flight karate-style kick, states in his video that “We have heard testimonies of crows pecking owls to death by attacking in a similar way, confusing the owl.

“This great horned owl stood its ground and did not even fly away, which could have been a sign of evident weakness that could endanger the nest even more.”

Moyano, an award-winning voiceover specialist, also runs MLC Productions.

Watch: Bald eagle ‘dad’ knocked from perch by great horned owl

For a bald eagle pair in Pittsburgh, among the threats to parenting is a great horned owl that keeps knocking the male eagle off his perch.

For a bald eagle pair in Pittsburgh, Pa., among the threats to parenting is a great horned owl that keeps knocking the male eagle from his perch.

The accompanying nest-cam footage shows the larger owl, in a blur, strike the eagle from behind and send him sprawling from a branch near the nest. (The clip also shows this in slow motion.)

Momma eagle, clearly concerned, rises briefly before resting back atop her three eggs. The male eagle, apparently unhurt, eventually returns to the nest to resume guard duty.

According to 2 CBS Pittsburgh, this was the second time the owl was caught on video blind-siding the eagle.

Although this might seem like bizarre great horned owl behavior, it could be that the owl hopes to displace both eagles and claim their nest.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, great horned owls rarely build their own nests. “They usually adopt a nest that was built by another species, but they also use cavities in live trees, dead snags, deserted buildings, cliff ledges, and human-made platforms,” Cornell Lab states on its website.

Great horned owls, which can boast 5-foot wingspans, occasionally prey on large raptors, including hawks and other owls.

The great horned owl certainly is not the only threat to the budding Hays Eagles family. The live nest-cam recently captured footage showing a raccoon unsuccessfully trying to raid the nest for its eggs.

According to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, the eggs were hatched Feb. 12, Feb. 15 and Feb. 19.

The nest-cam is run in a partnership with PixCams and Audubon includes this disclaimer: “This webcam shows live views of Bald Eagles in nature. Some content may not be suitable for all audiences.”