This is bird note. On a chilly day, midwinter, you notice a large nest made of sticks high in a leafless cottonwood.

A top the nest sits a large dark shape.

Its broad head sporting two ear-like tufts,

suggesting a cat's ears.

A female great-horned owl is incubating two eggs. A light snow falls on her back as her mate roosts

unseen in a nearby conifer. Since December, this pair has been hooting back and forth regularly at night.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, hoo.

Why risk the year's most severe weather by nesting now?

Probably, because Greathorned owlets, which hatch after a month of incubation,

must remain near their parents a long time compared to many other birds, right through summer and into early fall.

During this time, young owls learn the skills they need to hunt on their own,

before the rigors of the next winter set in. This adaptive

strategy has proven very successful. Great horned owls are the supreme

predatory nightbirds from the northernmost forests of Canada to Tierra del Fuego.

We have a photo of that owl covered in snow on our Facebook page. Have a look. For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann. You're going to be.