The Great Horned Owl on the nest with chicks is a female. It is generally reported in literature that the female keeps the male away from the young because males have a tendency (at least when the food supply is more scarce) to eat the nestlings. Males bring food to the nest and female sees to it that the young are provided. Let's go birding..... Wallace Coffey Bristol, TN ----- Original Message ----- From: Whoopinwiller@xxxxxxx To: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 11:27 AM Subject: [Bristol-Birds] Great Horned Owl at Heron Rookery 4 MAR 2006 Ft. Henry Drive Kingsport, TN Sullivan County Rack Cross . This morning I visited the Great Blue Heron rookery, found by Mary Erwin below the Fort Patrick Henry Dam, and found the Great Horned Owl nest, reported by Michelle King, occupied by momma. No chicks were visible but must have been responsible for the large bumps in momma's belly as she sprawled across the nest. . No herons were visible in left side of rookery where the owls are residing. On the right (downstream) end of the rookery I counted 14 occupied nests of Great Blue Herons. . Although distant, these birds are easily viewed. . Great Horned Owl - 1 (presumed female with chicks) Great Blue Heron - 19 . Great morning of birding! . 'Til we bird again . Rack Cross Blountville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count in which the birds you report were seen. The actual date of observation should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________