Just don't give a HOOT

[Todd Lambert]

Was in a new spot that I've been visiting a lot lately.. it's an abandoned manufacturing warehouse which is very cool. A few trips back, I was quite startled when a giant owl flew out suddenly from a perch in a room I was entering - scared the crap out of me.

Anyways, back to today, was walking through the same area and suddenly felt that someone was watching me - turned around and found the same owl, sitting on the ground cooling himself in a puddle. Ha!

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6839.jpg

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6847.jpg

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6876.jpg

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6885.jpg

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6892.jpg

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6908.jpg

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/CRW_6920.jpg

[HYBEagle]

I remember seeing a thread like this and the owl died after a few days. This is strange.

[Todd Lambert]

Same owl... he did die a few days later.

In fact, here is what I found returning to this spot three weeks later:

http://lambertphotography.com/forums/IMG_5213.jpg

Quite sad.

[sweetlu60]

Before looking at your second post, I was going to say that it didn't look like a healthy great horned, because the one ear tuft was missing. Nice captures though.

[Cosha]

Gutted...i thought when you said you went back a while later you found young owls...

Poor thing, did it look like he had any damage on his body?

Maybe he was asking for help the first time round?

[Tom Reichner]

Seems likely he died as a result of being abandoned by his parents. They feed the fledglings for a few months (after fledging). Without them, a young owl is helpless and will soon die. Perhaps the parents were disturbed and vacated the area.

[Todd Lambert]

So, died of starvation?

How can you tell how old he is, I'm curious?

I know nothing about birds, but because of his size and appearance, guessed that he was old.

[Tom Reichner]

Hello, Todd!
You can tell he is a youngster by the feathers. They are "downy" and underdeveloped. A mature Great Horned Owl would have only mature, fully developed feathers. (I'm pretty sure your owlet is a Great Horned, but juvenile owls can be difficult to ID without the accompanying adults).

You can also see that his/her facial disc is not developed. If you google "Great Horned Owl Photos" and look closely at photos of many different mature GHOs, then look back at these pics of your owl, you'll readily be able to see the difference.

I don't have any good GHO juvenile shots, but I do have a couple Great Grey images with which I can attempt to illustrate the difference between a juvenile and an adult. The first is a juvy, the second is a mature bird.

[Todd Lambert]

Ah.. very interesting, thank you.

I'd seen either this owl or another a few days before I saw this one. I assumed it was the same one, but I now wonder if it was one of the parents.

This place is a huge manufacturing plant - so they could still be there, but I go there a lot, and have yet to see any others. 8-(

I always keep my eyes open though.

Anyways, thanks for the insight.. these are fascinating animals.