Their diet consists of mammals such as mice, voles, weasels, rabbits, squirrels and rats, but they will often take larger prey including skunks and other owls. Once their prey has been located, they will silently swoop down, using their sharp talons to quickly grasp and kill it. Like most owls, great horned owls hunt at night, using good eyesight and excellent hearing. Difficult to spot during the day, great horned owls blend into their environment, given away only by their bright yellow eyes and deep hooting calls. Widespread across North America, you never know when an owl might be watching you. Great Horned Owl Great horned owl in Louisiana. Summer is the best time to see them in the U.S., at Southern wildlife refuges like Savannah Wildlife Refuge in Georgia and South Carolina and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Prized for their colorful plumage and sweet songs, there is a thriving illegal trade of these birds, despite conservation efforts. Calling to each other in long, high-pitched notes, they feed on small seeds and breed in overgrown shrubs and thickets. Females and young are uniformly yellow-green. Males are stunningly colorful with feathers of blue, red and bright green. Photo by Steve Sinclair ( Warm-weather birds, painted buntings rarely travel farther north than Kansas in the summer and spend the winter in Central America. Painted Bunting Painted bunting standing on the forest floor at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Some have recovered from near extinction for a dramatic #WildlifeWin.
The treaty was the first international effort to protect birds, wherever they fly.Ĭheck out the cool pictures and fun facts below about 12 of our favorite birds. Throughout 2016, we’re celebrating the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty and 100 years of bird conservation. Many refuges and parks also offer guided bird walks with experts who can offer tips for bird watching and identification to make the experience even more enjoyable. While this allows us to have a wildlife experience every day (no matter where we are), public lands like National Wildlife Refuges are often set aside specifically to protect birds and other wildlife. Birds are all around, connecting people with nature and adding beauty, sound and color to our world.
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