Midnight Serenade Great Horned Owl Wood Carving Big Sky Carvers

Time Flies When You're A Duck
Midnight Serenade Great Horned Owl Wood Carving

Individual Horned Owls range in length from 18 to 27 inches and have a wingspan 40 to 60 inches. An average Great Horned Owl is 22 inches long, has a wingspan of 49 inches and weighs about 3.1 lbs. Generally, the largest owls are found closer to the Polar regions and the smallest owls are found closer to the Equator. Females are larger than males. Adults have large ear tufts, a reddish, brown or gray face and a white patch on the throat. The iris is yellow, except in the race B. v. nacurutu where it is amber. The ear tufts are not actually ears, but simply tufts of feathers. The underparts are light with brown barring; the upper parts are mottled brown. The legs and feet are covered in feathers up to the talons. There are individual and regional variations in color; birds from the sub-Arctic are a washed-out, light-buff color, while those from Central America can be a dark chocolate brown. Owls also have spectacular binocular vision needed to pinpoint prey and see in the dark. Because owls cannot move their eyes like we can, their neck must be able to turn a full 270 degrees in order to see in other directions without moving its entire body. An owl's hearing is as good — if not better — than its vision. Owls have stereo hearing that allows them to find the exact location of their prey.