Hiss

Species: Great Horned Owl

Age: 30+

Area: North America

Hiss is one of our favorite educational birds.  He is named for the hissing sound that Great Horned owls make and that he frequently displays.  

-Hisss is an old owl.  He is definitely above the middle age mark, we have been assuming his age to be about 15 -20 years old.  He is so old that his beak and talons both must be trimmed each month from excessive growth.  In captivity he can live 40 to 50 years.

-He has been an educational birds for about 3 years.  He came to the refuge about a year ago.

-He prefers to stay inside and away from people, and has no real interest in leaving his room.  He can be taken out of the room / cage and will try to go back in.

-Hisss left wing was broken and new bone formed over his wrist.  He cannot spread the wing at all.  He had problems for 2 years from scraping and damaging his broken wing, but seems to have gotten over that..

-GHOs are the only bird of prey that will kill for spite.  They are known for bad attitudes, and most rehab centers dislike them.  They are generally not trainable.  They will forget what you taught them and fight you tooth and nail for what they want.

-GHOs are the single most successful predator in the Americas.  They can coexist with man or live in wilderness, they do not seem to care which.  They are termed "the lions of the sky"

-GHO talons are able to exceed 2000 lbs  pressure

-GHOs live in abandoned red tail hawk nests.

-The brown area around GHOs eyes are sound collectors for their ears.

-The yellow iris helps to amplify light going into the eye.

-GHOs can turn their head just over 270degrees (a clock face of the no 5 to the right and no 7 to the left)

-GHOs prefer dusk and dawn hunting and generally sleep during the middle of the day and middle of the night.

-GHOs will kill crows in their nests at night.  Not for food, just for sport.  For this reason, crows will gang attack great horned owls if they find them during the day.

-GHOs have a neck approx 5to 9 inches long.  They keep the neck hunched down, but it is that long.

-the horns are nothing more than feathers designed to break up their silhouette.  GHOs have the ability to lower their horns.