Home – North and South America
Habitat – varied: tropical and temperate forest, grassland, desert, and mountains
Niche – nocturnal hunter
Favorite Food – small mammals
Length – up to 2 feet
Weight – up to 5 pounds
Status – Common
Threats – Habitat destruction
The Great Horned Owl is the largest owl in North America, and its range extends from Northern Canada down to Tierra del Fuego. It gets its name from the tufts of feathers on either side of its head that resemble horns from a distance. A silent killer of the night, it is one of the world’s most successful birds.
Great Horned Owls are some of the most sedentary birds in the world, rarely venturing far from their home tree. Because of their adaptations, they don’t need to fly far in search of food. Small mammals are plentiful across the Great Horned Owl’s wide range across North and South America, and this amazing bird has an extensive hunting arsenal. Its binocular vision is so acute that it can spy a mouse over 100 feet away, and its hearing can detect tiny movement in the leaf litter below its tree. Although owls can’t move their eyes in their sockets, they can turn their heads almost completely around their axis, allowing them to zero-in on prey. Finally, the soft feathers of an owl muffles the sound of flight, making its deadly approach nearly silent up until the point it sinks its razor-sharp talons into an unfortunate animal.
Great Horned Owls make their nests in trees, usually in a hollowed-out trunk or the abandoned nest of a hawk or crow. In sparser areas, they will nest in rocky alcoves. Although the female is the one to incubate the eggs, both parents will tend to the fledgling chicks for about 6 weeks until they leave the nest. Great Horned Owls are very territorial birds, even when not rearing young, but will defend their nests with resolve. They have been known to dive-bomb humans to frighten them away from their trees if they get too close.
Habitat destruction is the greatest threat facing Great Horned Owls because of their dependence on trees for nesting. However, their wide range has afforded them a buffer against encroachment, and they are still common in many regions of North and South America.
Home – Western South America
Habitat – mountains and coastlines
Niche – large aerial scavenger
Favorite Food – carrion
Wingspan – up to 11 feet
Weight – up to 25 pounds
Status – Near Threatened
Threats – hunting, poisoning, habitat loss
The largest flying bird in the world carves its home among the jagged peaks of South America’s Andes Mountains. Soaring as high as 18,000 feet on rising air currents, the Andean Condor is one of the most impressive birds on Planet Earth.
It is a giant bird, with a body measuring nearly 4 feet in length and weighing up to 25 pounds. In order to keep that kind of weight aloft in the air, the Andean Condor uses its massive wings that can stretch 11 feet from tip to tip. Although that wing length is rivaled by other birds like large storks and albatrosses, no other bird comes close to the wing area of an adult Andean Condor. It relies on these giant wings to stay aloft, preferring to gain altitude and glide on rising thermals rather than expending energy on more propulsive flight. Using only a few wing flaps, this condor can travel huge distances in its search for food thousands of feet below.
Like all other vultures, the Andean Condor is primarily a scavenger, feeding on animal carcasses that dot the mountains and coastline of western South America. It uses its keen eyesight to locate everything from dead alpacas to beached whales from dizzying heights aloft. In addition to carrion, Andean Condors also will frequent the nesting grounds of seabirds on the Peruvian Coast. They snatch eggs from the nests of other birds that are no match for their intimidating size.
Andean Condors have fared better than their critically endangered cousins to the north, the California Condors. However, they are subject to similar threats due to their breeding habits. They produce only a single egg every two years, which means that a significant reduction in population could spell disaster for the species as a whole. Luckily, the remoteness of their habitat in the unforgiving heights of the Andes and their plentiful supply of dead meat has protected them so far.
