Fluffy Owlet Fills Up On Breakfast With Female | Savannah Great Horned Owls – Feb. 22, 2022

On the Savannah Owl cam, the fluffy owlet pokes its head out to share a meal with its mom. Did you notice that the owlet's eyes have yet to open? Great Horned Owl hatchlings are altricial, which means they are underdeveloped, unable to move or feed themselves, and completely reliant on their parents for survival. Upon hatching, it takes a few days before an owlet is able to lift its head, and you may see it struggle during feeding as it begins to gain strength. Here's some milestones to watch for during the first two weeks of the nestling period:

Day 3: The young will start to raise their heads.

Day 6: The young will start snapping their bills.

Day 7: Young are able to cast their first pellets.

Day 9: Eyes may start to open.

Day 14: The owlets are able to locate the parents by sound. They will respond with food calls or whimpers when the adults hoot.

Watch live at www.allaboutbirds.org/savannahowls

Interested in learning more about owls? Sign up for our self-paced, online course "The Wonderful World of Owls" from the Cornell Lab's Bird Academy: https://hubs.la/Q012pdgP0

During the Fall of 2014, a pair of Great Horned Owls began frequenting an abandoned Bald Eagle nest adjacent to a protected, nutrient-rich salt marsh along the Georgia coast. This nest sat nearly 80′ above one of the six Audubon International Certified golf courses at The Landings, on Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Georgia. Over the course of 2015 and 2016, a pair of owls successfully fledged four owlets from the site, but they did not return to breed in 2017.

Instead, a pair of Ospreys began renovating the nest and committed to breeding at the same site from 2017 to 2019, when the dead tree that held the nest was removed due to being designated as a falling hazard. A new nest site was erected in an adjacent tree in the fall of 2019, and the Ospreys were quick to take up residence in 2020 and 2021.

In January 2022, a pair of Great Horned Owls returned to the cam site to nest for the first time since 2016.

Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that hunt a diverse assortment of prey. They are generally nocturnal hunters, but will also hunt in broad daylight. Throughout the nesting period, the owls may arrive at the nest site with meals of small- to medium-sized mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds of all sizes.

Female Great Horned Owls spend most of the time at the nest caring for eggs and owlets while males hunt for food. After fledging, young may remain with their parents for 3–4 months before dispersing from natal territories.

Learn more about Great Horned Owls from the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds online field guide at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl

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