This is bird note.

It's a cool morning in late September.

Two young great-horned owls are roosting alongside their parents,

perched out of view in-like stand of trees.

Compared to the adults, the owlets are a richer brown,

and their cat-like ear tufts are a bit shorter.

Otherwise, the four birds look alike.

Who?

Who?

Who?

Compared to many birds, young great-horned owls remain with their parents a long time.

Robbins, for example, are fending for themselves only six weeks after they hatch.

Our owlets are now almost seven months old.

These two hatched in early March, from eggs laid in late January.

The mother incubated the eggs for a month, never once leaving the nest. During that month, the male great-horned

owl was the sole provider. By April, both parents were hunting through the night.

They airlifted in meal after meal to the rapidly growing young,

everything from delectable ducks to smelly skunks. But for the last two weeks the adults have not

fed the young and they are hearing about it. Today could be the final day the family group roosts together.

For any night now, the young owls will strike out on their own,

moving beyond the home territory of their birth.

Hohoo!

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