Great horned owls are among North America’s most familiar raptors. A great horned owl’s diet is as broad as its habitat: frogs and scorpions, other owls, songbirds, bats, rats, house cats, even skunks. Locally, great horned owls begin courtship in the dead of winter, pairing and eventually settling down in the abandoned nests of squirrels or large birds, or occasionally on the ledges of buildings. Owlets hatch from their eggs into the deepest part of winter after about a month. The great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) nests early to give its young an added predatory advantage.

Source: New York Times December 27, 2017 23:14 UTC