Great Horned Owl (Hoot Owl, Tiger Owl)

The Great Horned Owl is a powerful, heavy-bodied apex nocturnal predator known for its prominent ear tufts, piercing yellow eyes, and deep hooting call. It is one of the most adaptable owls in the Americas, hunting a vast array of prey from rodents to large mammals and birds.

Rich earthy brown and buff background crossed with prominent, irregular dark brown or black horizontal barring (vermiculations), typical of cryptic camouflage plumage

Pennaceous upper portion with tightly interlocking barbs transitioning smoothly into a very loose, downy (plumulaceous) base with a soft, silky texture and a small afterfeather

Extremely soft, velvety, and matte in appearance with no glossy sheen, lacking the specialized comb-like leading edge found on flight feathers, specialized for silent movement

Distinctive bold horizontal barring on a warm brown and buff background, combined with a large, softly rounded tip and a fluffy, downy gray basal half

Incredibly adaptable, found in deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, deserts, swamps, tundra edges, agricultural areas, and urban parks

Widespread throughout North America, Central America, and South America, ranging from the subarctic tree line down to the southern tip of South America as a year-round resident

Serves as a top nocturnal apex predator helping to regulate rodent, rabbit, and pest populations across diverse ecosystems

Barred Owl (Strix varia) and Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus), though Barred Owls tend to show more lengthwise streaking on underparts rather than bold horizontal barring

Great Horned Owls can exert a crushing force of over 300 pounds per square inch in their talons, roughly equal to the bite force of an adult human

Good condition, with intact barbs along the pennaceous section and minimal fraying at the downy base, showing typical natural wear for a molted body feather

9 inches