Juveniles have extensive brown barring all over their bodies except their faces, underwings, legs, and feet. They have thick dark bars on their wingtips but incomplete bars on their tails. Snowy Owls have bright yellow eyes, and their legs and feet are fully covered with feathers to protect them from the cold, harsh weather of the Arctic.
They also have thicker and more complete barring on their tails compared to the males. Male Snowy Owls are either white all over or have a small amount of brown spots.įemale Snowy Owls have flecks of dark brown to black on their backs, wings, and flanks, unlike the more white males. Snowy Owls are vulnerable species in Nova Scotia but they spend winter here from mid-October to March, and a few are also spotted until June. Crows will usually mob Great Horned Owls in their nests, and that is one of the best ways to find them. The female lays up to four eggs that are incubated for around a month.įun Fact: Great Horned Owls are the crows’ number one enemy. They line the nest with bark, leaves, downy feathers, or pellets but sometimes leave it unlined. Nests of Great Horned Owls are usually in trees, and they often use an old nest from another species. They also make various whistles, shrieks, hisses, and coos. Great Horned Owls: The distinctive 5-note Hoo call of the Great Horned Owl is made by both males and females, but females are higher pitched. They will also hunt from the ground or wade in the water. They hunt from a perch, scanning their territory and swooping down to capture their prey with their strong talons. Great Horned also hunt other raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine falcons, or other owls.
They will also eat insects, fish, and carrion. Their varied diet includes small rodents such as mice, skunks, geese, and hares. As long as they have nesting sites, roosting sites, and an abundance of prey, they will be able to adapt to forests, deserts, grasslands, or cities. You can find Great Horned Owls in almost any environment in North America. Great Horned Owls are widespread throughout North America and do not migrate. Their barring is less visible, and their ear tufts are smaller and hardly seen. Juveniles have white, cinnamon, or gray fluffy feathers that make them look “puffed up”. They can be darker or lighter depending on the region they are from and are smaller in the south than in the north. Their backs and wings are mottled with gray, brown, black, or white. The coloring and patterns of Great Horned Owls are also mainly for camouflage. They have grayish to reddish-brown faces, large yellow eyes outlined in black, and their hooked bills are dark gray. They’re tufts of feathers that they use as camouflage to make them appear like branches of trees. Their most unique physical characteristic is their “Great Horns” which aren’t really horns but ear tufts. Great Horned Owls are one of the most common owls in North America. Great Horned Owls are the most frequently spotted in Nova Scotia and they are here all year. So read on to find out more about the owls of Nova Scotia. Rare or accidental owls in Nova Scotia: Northern Hawk Owl, Boreal Owl, Burrowing Owl, Great Gray Owl, Barn Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl Owls in Nova Scotia in winter: Snowy Owl, Short-eared Owl Owls in Nova Scotia in summer: Northern Saw-whet Owl, Long-eared Owl Owls in Nova Scotia all year: Great Horned Owl Try looking at high perches on the edge of the forest overlooking open grassland or pastures and listen for their calls.Īlthough owls look fierce, they are also pretty goofy, especially when you realize how baby owls sleep as their heads are so heavy or what owl legs look like under that fluffy coat.
To find owls in Nova Scotia head to woodlands at dawn or dusk for the best chance of seeing them. The largest Owls in Nova Scotia are the Great Horned Owls, and the smallest owls are Northern Saw-whet Owls. They eat their prey whole, often after removing the head and sometimes wings, and then regurgitate the bones and fur as a pellet. Owls are birds of prey and hunt and eat small mammals as well as snakes, frogs, insects and even other birds. These iconic birds have long held a special place in our hearts, and this guide will help you find out all about them with pictures, their hoots and calls, when to find them, and ID for each of these captivating creatures. Five of these are regularly occurring and there are also six rare or accidental species. Eleven of the nineteen owls in North America are found in Nova Scotia.
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