Special to the Hi-Desert Star
You are outside enjoying the star-filled desert night when you hear a deep "who-who-WHO-who who" from not far off. Then an answer in the distance. A large dark shape barely visible on a nearby branch responds, thrusting itself forward with each deep resonant hoot. A great horned owl is calling to its mate.
The great horned owl is Southern California's largest owl, 22 inches long with a 44 inch wingspread. The "horns" are two feathered ear tufts projecting from the top of its head. Unlike many other owls, it has fared well in the suburbs of areas like Los Angeles. These owls need trees to roost and nest in located near open fields in which to hunt. If lucky, you may see an owl perched in a tree trying to catch a good day's sleep, but usually they are too well hidden. Owl pellets, which are coughed up balls of fur and bones from the owl's meal, are often found at the base of trees where owls roost.
Like many other owls, great horned owls don't build elaborate nests. They frequently take a red-tailed hawk nest or simply use a tree cavity or ledge. This large powerful owl eats rats, mice, squirrels, and cottontails. It will also sometimes eat birds, including relatively large hawks and owls. The owl itself falls prey to humans with guns, although it is illegal to shoot owls.
Owls are mainly nocturnal predators that hunt by means of incredibly sharp night vision and hearing keen enough to precisely locate prey by sound alone. The feathers on the leading edge of their wings are saw toothed, which allows them to fly silently up to their prey and seize it with their long sharp talons.
The long-eared owl is very similar to the great horned owl in appearance and habits, but it is smaller (15 inches long with 36 inch wing span) and much thinner (one-third the weight). It is one of the most secretive owls, but has been seen occasionally on bird walks at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Not long ago, visitors at preserve bird walks were treated to the sight of three fuzzy young long-eared owls perched over a trail on the branch of a large cottonwood regarding them seriously.
The owl you are most likely to see in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is the barn owl. These large pale owls with a heart-shaped face are 16 inches in length with a wingspan of 42 inches, and are an impressive sight flying silently past through dark trees.
There are other owls here on the desert. The small burrowing owl (9.5 inches in length with a 21 inch wing span), which nests in burrows in the ground and is out in the daytime sitting on the ground or flying very low. It is on the Joshua Tree National Park bird list. Very vulnerable to development, it is still found locally (including, to my delight, in my neighborhood). Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and the national park have also sometimes had the western screech owl, 8 ½ inches long with a 20 inch wingspan. The park also once had the world's tiniest owl, the elf owl (only 5 ¾ inches long), but it may have been, as the park's bird list suggests, "extirpated".
Come join the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve bird walks. And don't be disappointed if we don't encounter a snoozing owl. There are always some other interesting birds to see. Bird walks are held at 8 am every Wednesday and every Saturday except for the first Saturday of the month. Meet in the parking lot. And don't forget to mark your calendar for the preserve's annual Christmas Bird Count, Saturday December 16 at 7 am.