Great Horned Owl (Northern/Light morph)

A thick, soft contour feather from one of the world's most adaptable predators. The Great Horned Owl is a large bird with prominent ear tufts, yellow eyes, and a powerful silhouette. These feathers provide exceptional insulation for winter hunting.

Muted greyish-buff base with distinct, soft-edged horizontal barring in dusky brown and warm ochre; light-colored intervals are creamy white to pale grey.

Densely plumulaceous (downy) at the base with soft, velvety pennaceous barbs at the tip; lack of stiff interlocking barbicels creates the silent flight characteristic of owls.

Extremely soft, velvety, and 'muffled' to the touch; matte finish with a characteristic 'fringe' of fine pili (hairs) along the surface to dampen sound.

Soft, blurred brown/buff horizontal bars (vermiculations) and an exceptionally large, fluffy downy base (plumulaceous section) distinctive of the Strigidae family.

Extremely versatile, including hardwood forests, swamps, deserts, urban parks, and coniferous woodlands; prefers areas with high perches.

Found throughout North and South America, from the Arctic tree line to the southernmost tip of South America; largely non-migratory.

Apex predator; controls populations of rodents, rabbits, and even other birds of prey; occupies the highest trophic level in many ecosystems.

Barred Owl (Strix varia) feathers have more distinct, darker brown bars; Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) feathers are smaller and typically more orange/rufous.

Great Horned Owls can apply up to 28 pounds of pressure with their talons and are one of the few predators that regularly hunt skunks due to their poor sense of smell.

Good; showing some mechanical fraying at the distal tip and slight separation of barbs from handling, likely a naturally molted specimen.