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Great
Gray Owl East of the Greater Toronto Area - Winter 2017 |
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Great Gray Owl hunting
late afternoon in a rough overgrown field. |
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Click Video for
Great Gray in hunting pose -
recommend full screen viewing |
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Aged as a first year
bird (hatched 2016) by its pale tipped primaries and its pointed tail tips. |
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Photo shows pointed tail
feathers where the mesoptile down once adhered and is now worn off, typical of first year Great Grays in winter.
It also has overall uniform plumage with no molt contrast between old and
new feathers. The primaries, secondaries and tail are the same first
generation. |
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It hunted from
perches. We saw it catch several voles. |
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Links |
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Aging Great Gray Owls:
http://www.jeaniron.ca/GreatGrays/index.htm |
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Adult Great Gray Owl - How to
Age It:
http://www.jeaniron.ca/Owls/greatgrayage09.htm |
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Great Gray Owl Observations
2004-2005:
http://www.jeaniron.ca/2017/GreatGrayOwls.pdf |
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Age
of 2017 Great Gray Owl Irruption |
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More than 50% of Great Gray Owl (GGOW)
photos we've examined in winter 2017 show first year birds hatched
in 2016. By contrast, more than 99% of GGOWs in the huge irruption
of 2004-2005 were older than first year birds. Source Mark Peck and
Glenn Murphy (2005) in the journal Ontario Birds 23(3): 122-137.
Link to article:
http://www.ofo.ca/site/download/id/130 |
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