This amazing bird has a grip strength that can easily sever the spine of larger prey, and requires a force of 28 pounds to open the talons. This owl is well adapted to all weather, as it has extremely soft feathers that insulate against the cold that also serve to muffle the sounds of their flight when in pursuit. When larger prey isn’t available, it turns to scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s an adept predator that’s capable of taking down birds and mammals much larger than itself, even including other raptors such as Osprey. It has a large, booming hoot and two tufts that resemble horns, which is where it gets its common name from. It’s the most common owl in the state, primarily found in semi-open areas with wide spaces between the trees.
Great Horned Owls have a tremendous amount of range throughout North America, and within Mississippi is no different. Their biggest nuisance bird is the European Starling, as even though this owl is still a predator, the starling is capable of regularly displacing them from their nesting site and taking over to raise their own young. When these birds, such as Blue Jays and chickadees, start to sound the alarm, they’ll swoop down around the Screech-owl while making noisy calls in an attempt to get the owl to move on by alerting other birds to their presence. The easiest way to find this owl is to listen to the sounds of angry smaller birds. Of course, they’re also very well camouflaged, so are rarely seen during the day. They’re extremely common east of the Rockies and has adapted well to humans, so can also commonly be found in backyard nest boxes. If a mysterious trill catches you ear in the middle of the night, that large sound came from an owl no bigger than a pint glass. The Eastern Screech-owl is a year-round resident wherever trees are available in Mississippi. In this article we’ll be focusing specifically on the owls in Mississippi, where and when you might spot them, and talk just a little bit about each one. The river and its tributaries coupled with 19.4 million acres of forested land within the state, make for an attractive wildlife habitat for many species. The state is famous of course for being named after the Mississippi River, being the home of Root Beer, and of course blues music. Mississippi is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain and is made up primarily of low rolling hills and lowlands.
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