Great Horned Owl

Found across a sweeping range of habitats from dense forest edges to suburban parks, this large owl favors areas where open hunting grounds adjoin mature trees with deep cavities or old raptor nests it can commandeer for roosting and nesting. Listen after dark for its deep, resonant series of booming hoots — typically a five-note phrase with a stuttered middle — and scan bare branches, fence posts, and utility poles where it perches motionless while scanning the ground below for mice, rabbits, and other prey. Winter offers the best viewing opportunities, as bare deciduous trees expose roosting birds more readily and breeding activity begins as early as January or February, when pairs call back and forth at dusk from territories they hold year-round.