Great Horned Owl (also known as Tiger Owl or Hoot Owl)

A large, powerful raptor with prominent ear tufts and yellow eyes. This feather exemplifies the owl's primary adaptation: silent flight facilitated by softened feather edges.

Mottled grayish-brown and buff-white with distinct dark brown horizontal barring; the base shows warmer ochre/buff tones typical of the species' facial disc and underparts.

Densely packed pennaceous barbs on the main vane with a velvet-like 'pile' on the dorsal surface; base features soft, plumulaceous (downy) barbs for insulation.

Extremely soft and velvety to the touch. The leading edge features a comb-like fringe (flutings) that breaks up air turbulence for silent flight.

Rich rufous/buff mottling, distinct dark barring, and the presence of a 'velvet' texture and fringed leading edge unique to owls.

Highly adaptable: found in deciduous and evergreen forests, swamps, deserts, subarctic tundra, agricultural areas, and even urban parks.

Year-round resident across most of North America, from the tree line in the Arctic south through Central America and parts of South America.

Apex predator; controls populations of rodents, rabbits, and other birds. They are early nesters, often taking over old hawk or crow nests in February.

Great Gray Owl (larger, grayer, lacks buff tones) and Long-eared Owl (much smaller, narrower feathers).

Great Horned Owls have no sense of smell and are one of the few consistent predators of skunks. Their grip can exert 200 to 500 pounds per square inch.

Good to Excellent; the vane is mostly intact with minor 'unzipping' of the barbs near the mid-section and slight wear at the tip, likely a natural molt.