Great Horned Owl Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Great Horned Owls are one of those birds that aren't seen nearly as much as you might expect, given how common they are. Their nocturnal habits definitely have a lot to do with that, as most of the time, they're on a hidden daytime roost. However, there's a window of time in the early spring when they're often quite visible, and even active and hunting during daylight hours. You'll note many of the photos below are of birds on nests. In the early spring, before the leaves are out on the trees, you can get a good indication of how common Great Horned Owls are by driving country roads in southeastern South Dakota. It seems like many of the farmsteads and their shelterbelts have a resident Great Horned Owl, sitting on a nest in the spring. Once the young hatch they also need to hunt more, which means you may see an active bird in the early morning or evening hours. My favorite photo of the species is just such a bird, sighted in the late evening in Minnehaha County on April 7th, 2018.

Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus


Great Horned Owl 1 April 17th, 2005 Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 2 April 13th, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 3 April 17th, 2005 Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 4 April 17th, 2005 Lake Thompson, South Dakota

Great Horned Owl 5 April 6th, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 6 April 6th, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 7 October 5th, 2007 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 8 April 19th, 2014 Sonoran Desert Museum, Arizona

Great Horned Owl 9 April 19th, 2014 Sonoran Desert Museum, Arizona	Great Horned Owl 10 April 19th, 2014 Sonoran Desert Museum, Arizona	Great Horned Owl 11 April 23rd, 2020 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 12 March 29th, 2020 Kingsbury County, South Dakota

Great Horned Owl 13 April 7th, 2018 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 14 April 7th, 2018 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Great Horned Owl 15 AMay 11th, 2019 Beaver Creek Nature Area, South Dakota