Hawk Attacks Great Horned Owl Nest, Female Goes On Alert – March 15, 2022

Watch views from cams 2 and 3 of an immature Red-tailed Hawk attacking the brooding female as it swoops past the Savannah Great Horned Owl nest.

The female goes on high alert immediately after regaining her composure, and the owl eventually leaves the nest to perch on a nearby branch and scan her territory.

This isn't the first such attack by a hawk at the nest this season, and it may not be the last. These type of interactions likely have to do with territorial disputes between the hawk and the nesting owls. However, an unattended nestling may not be able to defend itself at this stage. Luckily for the youngster, the female was around to protect her owlet.

Watch live at www.allaboutbirds.org/savannahowls

Interested in learning more about owls? Sign up for our self-paced, online course "The Wonderful World of Owls" from the Cornell Lab's Bird Academy: https://hubs.la/Q012pdgP0

During the Fall of 2014, a pair of Great Horned Owls began frequenting an abandoned Bald Eagle nest adjacent to a protected, nutrient-rich salt marsh along the Georgia coast. This nest sat nearly 80′ above one of the six Audubon International Certified golf courses at The Landings, on Skidaway Island, near Savannah, Georgia. Over the course of 2015 and 2016, a pair of owls successfully fledged four owlets from the site, but they did not return to breed in 2017.

Instead, a pair of Ospreys began renovating the nest and committed to breeding at the same site from 2017 to 2019, when the dead tree that held the nest was removed due to being designated as a falling hazard. A new nest site was erected in an adjacent tree in the fall of 2019, and the Ospreys were quick to take up residence in 2020 and 2021.

In January 2022, a pair of Great Horned Owls returned to the cam site to nest for the first time since 2016.

Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that hunt a diverse assortment of prey. They are generally nocturnal hunters, but will also hunt in broad daylight. Throughout the nesting period, the owls may arrive at the nest site with meals of small- to medium-sized mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds of all sizes.

Female Great Horned Owls spend most of the time at the nest caring for eggs and owlets while males hunt for food. After fledging, young may remain with their parents for 3–4 months before dispersing from natal territories.

Learn more about Great Horned Owls from the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds online field guide at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/G...

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