Nesting Great Horned Owls

Nesting Great Horned Owls
By Bridget Kwok
Mar 15, 2009 - 1:04:02 PM

Email this article
Printer friendly page


SAN FRANCISCO— Great horned owls have been found nesting in the Presidio Park area. The owls begin their nesting around the first of second week of February.

During the daylight hours, the owls can be seen perched up in their nests, busy incubating their eggs or watching over their young. If the owls are left undisturbed, the female remains low in the nest while the male stands guard nearby.

According to Peter Ehrlich, Presidio Trust Forester, the owls are “only really active during twilight and in the late afternoon at 5 or 6 o’clock.” Great horned owls are crepuscular, which means that they’re most active at dawn and dusk. Ehrlich also noted that “you see them at dusk when the males are flying to hunt, because the mother is sitting on the nest continuously so the male brings food back to feed her.”