This morning (January 11, 6:15am) I heard a female Great Horned Owl calling so I went to investigate. When I found her, there were two crows in the tree a few branches above her. Within 15 minutes, about 30 crows were in and around the tree and they were mobbing her relentlessly.
I could not see a nest in that tree, and I could only find one fresh pellet on the ground nearby. This makes me think that this was not the owl's nest tree. I never heard or saw the male on this occasion, but on previous nights, I have definitely heard the two of them calling together.
As I watched the odds stacking up against this owl, I started speculating over hopeful scenarios:
Perhaps it is still a little early for eggs and if she survives today's onslaught, then the pair will still have an opportunity to nest.
Maybe the nest was somewhere else and she was distracting the mob away from it. I was shocked when she kept calling as the mob grew in numbers.
1 - Do female Great Horned Owls attract mobs away from a nest site?
2 - The literature suggests that males do not brood, but in a desperate situation like this, might the male quietly hunker down on the nest to protect the eggs?
3 - I suspect that the owls' territories are well-established for the season. If the female is killed today, what are the chances that the male could find an unpaired female and salvage a year of reproduction?
I have seen crows and ravens mobbing owls many times before, but I have never observed this scale of brutality. At one point, she flew to another tree and was hit pretty hard at least twice by bombing crows. It was also the morning, so I expect them to work in shifts to harass her all day. I will go up there tonight to see if I can find any evidence of an outcome.
I am reaching out to you all now for any observations or information that might contribute real evidence to my speculations.
