Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 82). Common in the Turtle Mountains; fairly common on the Southern Drift Plain and on the Little Missouri Slope; fairly common locally on the Northwestern Drift Plain, Missouri Coteau, Coteau Slope, and Missouri Slope; uncommon and local in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region and on the Northeastern Drift Plain.
Breeding Habitat. A characteristic inhabitant of groves or thickets of trees as well as more extensive tracts of forests; when foraging for food, it often ranges over adjoining expanses of prairie, marsh, and cropland.
Nesting. Breeding season: Late February to mid-July; peak, early March to late June. According to Judd (1917) and Berner (1962-1963), egg-laying often begins in late February. Extreme egg dates (21 nests): March 8 [1901] in Ramsey County (C. W. Bowman) to May 5 [1897] in Pierce County (E. S. Rolfe). Extreme nestling dates (23 nests): April 20 [1965] in Stutsman County (RES) to July 5 [1967] in Dickey County (H. F. Duebbert). Extreme dates of dependent young out of the nest (8 records): May 1 [1961] in Stutsman County (RES) to July 11 [1969] in Cavalier County (P. F. Springer).
Old abandoned hawk or crow nests in trees were utilized for nesting. Hawk nests include those that had been constructed by the Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, and Ferruginous Hawk. The height above the ground of 12 of these nests ranged from 12 to 50 feet and averaged 33 feet. One nest found in Billings County on June 7, 1913, was situated in the hollow top of a dead cottonwood stump, about 15 above the ground (S. G. Jewett). At Kenmare in Ward County an unusual nest observed during May 1968 was situated on a ledge of an office building in the downtown area (R. T. and A. M. Gammell). Another nest, located in McIntosh County during May 1971, was situated on the floor of an abandoned barn (RES).
Indicated clutch size (22 nests): 1 to 4 eggs; mean, 2.6 eggs (1 clutch of 1 egg, 10 clutches of 2 eggs, 8 clutches of 3 eggs, and 3 clutches of 4 eggs).
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| Figure 82. Breeding Range of Great Horned Owl. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/3750.htm
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