Hi BB et al.,
I can see where there might be some confusion. The Great Horned Owl Larry
photographed is a male. Males are considerably smaller than the females, with
more delicate facial features and smaller feet with more slender toes, so it is
closer to the Long-eared Owl's size and proportions. This male knows he's being
photographed, so he has adopted a pose that Great Horned Owls use when they are
trying to blend in and mimic a snag. He's got his ear tufts up as high as
possible, he's partly squinting his eyes, some of the facial disc feathers are
erect near the bill, and his contrapposto posture all make him look longer and
slimmer (and more branch-like) than he really is.
I'm more than happy to provide a few ID pointers:1. The shape of the facial
disc is a flat oval (laterally compressed) in Great Horned, and a tall/vertical
oval in Long-eared.
2. The eyes of a Great Horned are notably much larger than those of a
Long-eared, such that they eyes take up a lot more of the face/ facial disc
area.
3. The facial patterns are different: When looking at the owl head-on, the
forehead of the Great Horned makes a "lazy V" or much more open V than the
tight, compact V pattern of the Long-eared's forehead.
4. The facial patterns are different: in the Long-eared, the vertical black
stripes extend directly above and below the eyes. Not so in Great Horned.
5. In the photo you can see a hint of the Great Horned's white throat. A
long-eared does not have a white throat.
I limited my explanation to features that are visible in Larry's photo. Nice
photo, by the way!
Good birding everyone!
Jennifer
-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas "BB" Watson <dwatson631@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: jacoulson@xxxxxxx
Cc: dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
missbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <missbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sat, Apr 10, 2021 1:58 pm
Subject: Re: [missbird] Owl ID
So Dr. Coulson,
Why don’t you help educate the community with the characteristics of this
picture that help you make the GHO determinations. Sure looks tall and lean to
our untrained eyes.
“BB"
On Apr 10, 2021, at 1:53 PM, Jennifer Coulson (Redacted sender "jacoulson" for
DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Larry, This is most definitely a Great Horned Owl. I am a raptor biologist
who studies this species.
Jennifer Coulson
-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Pace <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Missbird Missbird <missbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sat, Apr 10, 2021 12:45 pm
Subject: [missbird] Owl ID
Please confirm this Owl as a Great Horned or Long-eared. I posted on a photo
group as Great Horned , but the ID was challenged. Thanks for your help!
Larry Pace
