Owls are heard far more often than seen — but a hooting call at dusk means one of our most skilled nocturnal hunters is close by.

Montclair’s older trees and nearby preserves support several owl species, most commonly the great horned owl and the Eastern screech-owl, with barred owls also reported in wooded pockets of the area.

What they look like

Great horned owls are large, powerful birds — up to five pounds with a wingspan of nearly four and a half feet — identifiable by prominent ear tufts and deep yellow eyes. Eastern screech-owls are much smaller, robin-sized, and come in both reddish and grey colour forms, relying heavily on camouflage against tree bark.

Across species, an owl’s flight is remarkably silent, thanks to comb-like feather edges that break up turbulent airflow.

Family life

Owls nest earlier than most birds — great horned owls often begin nesting in January or February, sitting on eggs through the coldest part of winter. Rather than building their own nests, they typically take over an old hawk or crow nest, or use a tree cavity. Clutches are usually one to three eggs, fewer for larger owls and more for smaller ones like screech-owls, and incubation lasts around a month.

Owlets fledge before they can fly well, spending time as “branchers” hopping around near the nest tree while parents continue to feed them — a normal and vulnerable-looking stage that doesn’t mean a bird is orphaned or in trouble.

Daily habits

Owls are almost entirely nocturnal, relying on exceptional low-light vision and extraordinarily sensitive hearing. Many species can pinpoint prey moving under snow or leaf litter by sound alone. Diet is dominated by small mammals: mice, voles, rats, and, for larger owls, animals as big as rabbits or skunks.

Owls swallow prey whole when they can and later regurgitate compact pellets of fur and bone — a helpful clue to what’s living nearby if you find one on the ground.

Territory and range

Great horned owl territories can span a mile or more, and pairs often stay together in the same territory year-round, defending it with the deep hooting calls most people associate with owls. Screech-owls hold smaller territories and are especially reliant on tree cavities, which makes mature trees with natural hollows important habitat in an otherwise developed town.

Living alongside owls

• Skip the rodenticide. See the red fox page for what to use instead.
• Preserve mature trees with cavities where possible. These are prime nesting real estate, especially for screech-owls, and are in short supply in developed areas.
• Leave “brancher” owlets alone. A fledgling owl on the ground or a low branch near a nest tree is usually still being fed by its parents — keep pets and people at a distance rather than intervening.
• Enjoy the calls. An owl calling at night is a sign of a healthy local food web, not a disturbance to be discouraged.

A resident owl is one of the best natural checks on the local rodent population a neighbourhood can have — worth protecting rather than displacing, particularly if rodent control is what you’re after.