Great Horned Owl (Bubo Virginianus)

Great Horned Owls are Alberta's Provincial Bird making them a highly iconic species. They are easily recognized from their “horns” or feather tufts on top of their head. We literally look up to this owl, roosted high in the trees.

Photo by Gerald Romanchuk

Photo by Gerald Romanchuk

Why they Matter to Us

  • Alberta’s Provincial Bird – in 1977, Albertan children voted to make the Great Horned Owl our provincial bird. The provincial bird symbolizes the magnificent wildlife in Alberta, and the importance of maintaining their habitat for the future.

  • Great Horned Owls are a top predator who feed on mice, rabbits, skunks and even the occasional porcupine.

How You Can Help

  • Support protected areas in the Edmonton region (such as EALT!). You can donate or volunteer your time to help with conservation efforts. EALT protects habitat important for Great Horned Owls. A fledgling Great Horned Owl has been spotted at our Ministik natural area and adults have been observed at Boisvert's GreenWoods and Bunchberry Meadows.

  • Use traps instead of poison when getting rid of mice in your house, garage, or other area. If a mouse eats poison in a building and makes its way outside before passing away, an owl or other predator could capture the mouse and ingest the fatal poison.

  • If you see a young Great Horned Owl on the ground, leave it be. Even though you might not see them, the parents are nearby and will feed the fledgling on the ground. Fledgling owls need to practice and build up muscles before they can fly. During this stage, it is quite normal to stumble across the owlet on the ground.

  • Great Horned Owls sometimes perch on power poles to hunt, rest, or feed. If the power pole is not built to bird-safe standards, the owl can become electrocuted when simultaneously contacting two energized components, or one energized and one grounded component. To help prevent owl electrocutions, call your power company to request that they build new poles, and modify older poles, to meet bird-safe standards. Learn more about bird electrocutions.

How to Identify

Great Horned Owls were named for the feather tufts on their head which give the appearance of “horns.” They are one of the larger owls in Alberta with an average wingspan of 101–145 cm (39.8–57.1 in). To identify the Great Horned Owl, look for the distinguishing features illustrated in the photo on the right.

As with all raptors, the female Great Horned Owls are larger than the males. Females also have a higher pitched hoot than the males. Great Horned Owls have an array of hoots, squawks, and calls but they’re most well known for their hoot that sounds like: “Who’s awake? Me too!”

  • Listen to their calls and hoots here.

Where to Find

Great Horned Owls are common all over Alberta and are widespread throughout North and South America. These owls do not migrate. They reside all year in forests, open woods, and river valleys of all natural regions.

Great Horned Owls are nocturnal so they can be found roosting during the day high in a tree, on sheltered cliff ledges, or in other secluded spots. At night, the Great Horned Owl forages for food in woods, fields, and forest edges.

When you are out for a walk in a natural area, it is difficult to keep an eye up high in the trees in search of an owl, because you can easily stumble on roots or other uneven terrain. Instead, look for a pile of the owl’s regurgitated pellets (small oval shaped pods of fur, feathers, and bones) at the base of a tree. If you find this sign, look up to see if you can find the owl. You can also locate an owl by listening to cues from other birds such as ravens or crows – they will noisily harass an owl for hours.

Spruce Bow by Doris May

Spruce Bow by Doris May

Great Horned Owlet by Marg Reine

Great Horned Owlet by Marg Reine

Social Life

  • A pair of Great Horned Owls may roost together near their future nest site for several months before laying eggs.

  • Pairs mate for life and share the duties of raising owlets.

  • With a plentiful food source in the area, the pair of owls will stay within their territory all year, but they roost separately outside of the breeding season.

Food Chain

  • They usually eat small and medium size mammals and birds, such as mice, rabbits and ducks, but will also attack other larger species, such as porcupine and skunk. In fact, they are the only animal that regularly eats skunk.

Fun Facts

  • When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this grip when catching prey.

  • Great Horned Owls’ pupils open widely in the dark, allowing them to have excellent night vision. Their large eyes don’t move in their sockets like our eyes, but instead they swivel their head to look in any direction.

  • If an owl starts with their head looking behind them, they can turn their head all the way around to the other side!

  • Some indigenous tribes believe that some Great Horned Owls may be witches who have shape shifted. They believe this because of the powerful, large look of the owl as well as it being mostly nocturnal.

  • Like other owls, the edges of their wings are adapted to make them very quiet in flight, giving them an advantage over their prey.

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

The majestic Pileated Woodpecker is North America’s largest woodpecker, due to the unfortunate, virtual extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. If you listen closely in the forest, you will be sure to hear the pileated calling or drumming, and if you’re lucky enough, you may even catch a glimpse of it flying by or hammering on a snag.

Photo by George Mason

Photo by George Mason

Why they Matter to Us

Pileated Woodpeckers

  • are majestic birds that are fascinating to watch and a welcome visitor at any suet feeder

  • spark the interest of many birders and wildlife photographers

  • play a crucial role in forest ecosystems: their abandoned nest holes offer shelter and nesting habitat for many species of wildlife, including small owls, ducks, bats, and even pine martens

  • consume large numbers of wood-boring insects that damage trees

How You Can Help

Nest at Boisvert's GreenWoods

Nest at Boisvert's GreenWoods

  • Support protected areas in the Edmonton region (such as EALT!). You can donate or volunteer your time to help with conservation efforts.

    • Our Boisvert’s GreenWoods Conservation Lands is home to nesting Pileated Woodpeckers. This natural area conserves important old growth forest where numerous species of woodpeckers have plenty of snags – crawling with bugs – to feast on. 

  • If you live near a ravine, or any woodpecker habitat, you can hang a suet feeder on a tree to help provide food for Pileated Woodpeckers. 

  • Leave dead or dying trees standing (rather than knocking them down) in natural areas and green spaces. They provide lots of food for woodpeckers.

How to Identify

Identify by Sight

To identify the Pileated Woodpecker, look for these distinguishing features:

Male Pileated Woodpecker by Doris May

Male Pileated Woodpecker by Doris May

  • solid black back

  • white stripes on the face

  • flaming red crest

  • long chisel-like bill

  • males have a red mustache

Identify in Flight

To identify the Pileated Woodpecker as it flies by, look for these clues:

  • undulating flight pattern

  • extensive white underwings

  • small white crescents on upper side of wings

Identify by Sound

Characteristic rectangular feeding hole made by Pileated Woodpeckers

Characteristic rectangular feeding hole made by Pileated Woodpeckers

Pileated Woodpeckers have a loud, shrill piping call with notes that sound like ‘wuk’ or ‘cuk’. It is similar to the Northern Flicker’s call, but is less even tone, with changing emphasis throughout. They also make a deep drumming sound when feeding or when trying to attract a mate in the spring.

  • Click here to listen to the many sounds of a Pileated Woodpecker.

Identify by Sign

You can tell a Pileated Woodpecker lives in the area by their uniquely distinguishable rectangular holes left in snags where they feed. Other common woodpecker species in Alberta leave smaller, round holes when they excavate for bugs.

Where to Find

Pileated Woodpeckers are found throughout most of Alberta, in forested regions. They live in mature forest and young forests which are scattered with a supply of large dead trees. You can find these woodpeckers right in Edmonton’s river valley! 

Pileated Woodpeckers are residents and do not migrate in the winter. They have plenty of food sources to sustain them year round.

Social Life

by Doris May

by Doris May

  • Pileated Woodpecker pairs stay together in their territory all year.

  • They defend their territory, only tolerating new arrivals in the winter months.

Food Chain

  • Food: mainly ants and other wood-boring insects; also fruits, nuts, and berries.

  • Predators to the nest: martens, weasels, and squirrels, but the adults will guard their nest – which was observed by a photographer watching a nest and an intruding squirrel. Click here to see photos.

  • Predators to the adult birds: some hawk and owl species.

Fun Facts

  • The oldest known Pileated Woodpecker was 12 years, 11 months old.

  • You can pronounce ‘pileated’ two ways, with a short ‘I’ sound (pill-ee-ated) or a long ‘I’ sound (pile-ee-ated).

  • A group of Pileated Woodpeckers is called a “crown”.

  • A woodpecker’s head moves 6 m/s at each peck enduring a deceleration more than 1,000 times that of gravity. Scientists have been studying woodpeckers’ skulls to find out how the birds can peck with such force, without resulting in injury to their brain. This research may be helpful in designing more effective head protection for people.

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

This uncommon, small diving duck catches our eye in Alberta lakes and wetlands. The male's disproportionately large head - like a buffalo’s (bison’s) head - was the inspiration for its name.

Why they Matter to Us

Buffleheads

  • are a vital part of their ecosystem, eating aquatic invertebrate pests, and dispersing seeds they eat, as well as being a food source for predators

  • inspire bird watchers and photographers with their stunning markings

  • are fun to watch and observe as they escort their ducklings and defend their territory

How You Can Help

  • Support protected areas in the Edmonton region (such as EALT!). You can donate or volunteer your time to help with conservation efforts.

    • EALT protects wetland habitats important for buffleheads and other waterfowl. Buffleheads have been spotted at our Hicks and Golden Ranches natural areas, including a female with ducklings.

  • Build them a home! Buffleheads nest in cavities, therefore installing nest boxes near wetlands can help them find a suitable place to nest.

  • Leave snags (dead trees) standing in green spaces near wetlands to maintain nesting structures

  • Help keep your watershed healthy! We all live in a watershed and what we do in our very own yards has an impact on wetlands nearby.

    • Wash your car at the carwash or use biodegradable soap

    • Do not litter

    • If you are using fertilizers or pesticides on your lawn follow the directions carefully and pay attention to the weather

How to Identify

Identify by Sight

  • Males are very striking with a large white patch that reaches from cheek to cheek over the back of their dark iridescent head.

  • Females are less boldly coloured and are dark grey-brown with oval white cheek patches.

  • Downy ducklings are black to dark grey with white patched cheeks, and a white throat, lower breast, and belly.

Identify in Flight

M & F in flight by Gerald Romanchuk

M & F in flight by Gerald Romanchuk

  • compact, big-headed black and white duck with a fast, direct flight that rocks side-to-side on fast wing beats

  • white band on upperwing on adult males and white patch on upperwing secondaries in females and first year males

  • takes flight directly from water into the air, unlike other diving ducks who run across the water before taking flight

Identify by Sound

  • Buffleheads don't sound like the usual "quack quack quack" like other ducks. Their vocabulary consists mostly of throaty "grrks", squeaky whisltes, chattering, and guttural "cuk cuk cuks".

    • Listen to a Bufflehead here.

Where to Find

 Buffleheads are found in lakes and wetlands in the boreal forest and aspen parkland regions of Alberta during migration and the breeding season. It nests in abandoned Northern Flicker cavities within poplar or aspen trees, or in a nest box. Breeding Buffleheads use permanent freshwater small lakes or ponds with abundant emergent and submergent plants. 

Buffleheads are one of the last ducks to leave Alberta before winter arrives. They overwinter on the Pacific and Gulf coasts, and the Southwest USA.

Duck nest box at Golden Ranches

Duck nest box at Golden Ranches

Growing Bufflehead ducklings at Golden Ranches

Growing Bufflehead ducklings at Golden Ranches

Social Life

  • Bufflehead breeding pairs claim a small lake where the female picks a cavity to nest in. Once she lays her eggs, the male departs to a molting ground where he will spend the rest of the summer with other unemployed males.

  • Buffleheads are territorial. Males will defend a female by diving under water and popping up underneath a rival male. Females will defend the water where she rears her young.

  • Male courtship displays involve head-bobbing, flying over and landing into a 'waterski' position showing off his pink legs and shimmery plumage.

Food Chain

  • Buffleheads eat aquatic insects, larvae, snails, small fish, and aquatic plants.

  • They are prey for raptors such as bald eagles, cooper's hawks, peregrine falcons, and great horned owls. Ducklings are sometimes prey to northern pike and gulls. The nest eggs are raided by bears, and members of the weasel family.

Fun Facts

  • The oldest known bufflehead fossils are from the late Pleistocene (approximately 500,000 years ago!)

  • The oldest known bufflehead was 18 years and 8 months old. A bird-bander in New York recorded this bird.

  • The monogamous pair use the same nest site for several consecutive years.

  • They can stay underwater for up to 24 seconds, only propelling themselves using their feet!

Sources

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

The Great Blue Heron is a majestic bird that you may have noticed in shallow waters, standing as still as a statue, stealthily searching for food. The Great Blue Heron is the largest and most widely distributed heron in Canada. It holds the record for the largest wading bird in North America.

Photo by Doris May

Photo by Doris May

Why they Matter to Us

Great Blue Herons

  • majestic birds that are fascinating to watch

  • they spark the interest of many birders and wildlife photographers

  • important members of healthy, freshwater ecosystems 

  • help control fish and insect populations in many different habitats

How You Can Help

  • Support protected areas in the Edmonton region (such as EALT!). You can donate or volunteer your time to help with conservation efforts.

    • Our Pipestone Creek and Glory Hills properties are adjacent to Great Blue Heron colonies. Our lands conserve important heron feeding grounds such as a creek, ox bow lake, lake, and small wetland. 

  • Do not disturb a rookery. Great Blue Herons return to the same nest sites year after year, so it is very important that heron nests are not disturbed.

  • Help keep your watershed healthy! We all live in a watershed and what we do in our very own yards has an impact on wetlands and waterways nearby.

    • Wash your car at a carwash or use biodegradable soap. Many people do not realize that our storm water systems (catch basins and gutters along paved streets) redirect UNTREATED water to the river or a nearby wetland.

    • Follow directions precisely when applying fertilizers or pesticides to your lawn. Make sure the weather forecast is not calling for rain when you apply chemicals as they will just get washed away, wasting your money and polluting the Great Blue Heron’s feeding grounds.

  • If you have a backyard fish pond don’t be surprised if a Great Blue Heron shows up for breakfast. 

    • To deter Great Blue Herons from eating your expensive pond fish, install a decoy heron (which makes for a beautiful yard decoration) next to your pond. Although herons flock on large feeding grounds, they will not share a small pond. 

    • Providing hiding places for your fish or covering the pond with netting will also protect your fish from being eaten.

How to Identify

Identify by Sight

To identify a Great Blue Heron, look for these distinguishing features:

Photo by Doris May

Photo by Doris May

Photo by Betty Fisher

Photo by Betty Fisher

Identify in Flight

To identify a Great Blue Heron in flight watch for these key features:

In Flight by Mike May

In Flight by Mike May

  • long neck tucked tightly in an S-shape

  • rounded wings flap in slow, deep beats

  • legs trail behind, long past their tail

  • wing span is 182 cm (6 feet)

Identify by Sound

Great Blue Herons have a number of different calls to communicate with each other. Their calls range from honks, which are like a high-pitched funny sounding goose, to croaks, which sound like an unimaginable ferocious dinosaur. Young herons begging for food sound like a ticking clock that will persist until their hungry mouths are satisfied.

  • Click here to listen to the many sounds of a Great Blue Heron

Where to find

Great Blue Herons are found in every Natural Region in the province, but are less common in the northern parts of Alberta. Herons can be found in meadows or in open shallow water at the edges of lakes, streams, rivers, ponds, sloughs, ditches, marshes, and mudflats. Look in these areas for a tall slender figure - herons stay statue still for great lengths of time while searching for food, making them difficult to spot.

Great Blue Herons are migratory birds. Herons arrive in Alberta in late March to early April and fly south in October to early November. A few Great Blue Herons have been spotted overwintering in the Calgary area, near Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, although the majority overwinter in southern USA, Mexico, or even as far south as the Caribbean.

Social Life

  • Great Blue Herons are lone hunters but will flock on large feeding grounds.

  • Nest in colonies, also called rookeries or heronries.

Perched Heron by Doris May

Perched Heron by Doris May

Fishing by Doris May

Fishing by Doris May

Food Chain

  • Food: fish, frogs, salamanders, water snakes, large insects, mice, small birds or even plant seeds.

  • Predators: eagles, bears, raccoons, vultures, and hawks prey on the young birds and sometimes even the adults.

Fun Facts

  • The oldest known Great Blue Heron was 24 years old.

  • Great Blue Herons benefit from beaver engineering skills. Beavers stop the flow of water by building a dam which creates a pond. This can eventually lead to the creation of a meadow. These ponds and meadows are prime feeding grounds for Great Blue Herons.

  • There is a Great White Heron, an all-white subspecies of the Great Blue Heron. The Great White Heron is found only in coastal areas of southern Florida.

 

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