BYWAYS PLUS: DATES! - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

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Naturalist Ernest T. Seton called the great horned owl "among the most pronounced and savage of the birds of prey." 40 The Desert Magazine/March 1980
For five years the female great horned owl had been in captivity. She had flown into some power lines and the electrical current had nearly killed her. She survived, but the lower portions of both her wings had to be amputated. Yet the fact she could no longer fly hardly disturbed her regal bearing. Every morning she greeted me and those that cared for her in the same awesome manner—fluffing up her feathers, lowering her head, and hissing as she snapped her beak together. And so she warned us that while she was willing to accept our help, she was not interested in friendship. The famous naturalist Ernest T. Seton in 1890 described the great horned owl as follows:' 'My ample opportunities of fully observing these interesting birds in captivity as well as in a state of freedom, and indeed all that I have seen of them—their untamable ferocity, which is daily more apparent; their magnificent bearing; their objection to carrion, and strictly carniverous taste—would make me rank these winged tigers among die most pronounced and savage of the birds of prey.'' Perhaps the behavior of our captive female is not so unusual! The great horned owl, with its many subspecies, is widely distributed throughout North, Central, and South America. It can be found from lower arctic regions in the north to the Straits of Magellan in die soudi. They are primarily a forest-dwelling species, preferring to live and hunt in timbered regions but in California, diey are found from the timberline of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to coastal grasslands and desert scrub. They do not migrate. Great horned owls are among the three largest species of The Winged Tiger by Karen Sausman Director-Naturalist Living Desert Reserve owls in North America. Their body lengdi is over 20 inches and they have a wing span of nearly five feet. Only die snowy owl and die great grey owl are larger. Great horned owls are grey to grey-brown in color widi mottled bands of darker brown on dieir back and wings. Down die breast, diey are slightly lighter colored with bars of dark brown or black. They have a large whitish area on dieir upper breast and of course, two ear tufts which give diem die common name of' 'horned'' owl. Great horned owls, Bubo virginianus, are directly related to die eagle-owls of Africa and Asia. These too have conspicuous ear tufts set above their broad facial discs. All have large broad wings and are capable of soaring widi all die grace and power of an eagle or large hawk. Owls of the genus Bubo may be found everywhere except in die forests of Australia and die Soudiwest Pacific Islands. In late winter die adults begin establishing dieir territory. Their prolonged hooting at diis time fills die night air. The birds begin courtship displays and nesting as early as January or February, allowing diem ample time to raise dieir slow-maturing young. Preferred nesting sites are in tall timber, but desert scrubs will do if trees are not available and diey will even use rocky ledges in canyons. While diey are capable of building dieir own nest, it is far more usual to find diem using die old nests of eidier red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks or ravens. In northern climates such early nesting requires constant care of die eggs during stormy weadier. Sometimes die nest and even die incubating bird are covered widi snow. The period of incubation is 28 to 34 days and from one to The Desert Magazine/March 1980 41
Page 1 and 2: goni BYWAYS MARCH, 1980 $1.50 PLUS:
Page 3 and 4: Volume 43, Number 2 The voice of th
Page 5: Photo by David Muench
Page 8 and 9: It was the wiIdf lower season of 19
Page 10 and 11: hurried to Slim's trailer. Nothing
Page 12 and 13: RIGHT, SELPOAA SEEN SLIM ANP I'M GO
Page 14 and 15: One way to confirm the strange cont
Page 16 and 17: 16 Ann Stradling sold her Stage Sto
Page 18 and 19: DANGER! HIGH EXPLOSIVES You're off
Page 20 and 21: dRCOSANTI: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO C
Page 22 and 23: Soleri is the Director of Cosanti,
Page 24 and 25: Soleri and the people around him wa
Page 26 and 27: 26 by Katherine Ainswofth "If you w
Page 28 and 29: BELCH BEGINS BRAWL It all started w
Page 30 and 31: FAIR- VIEW A Known Nevada Ghost Tow
Page 32 and 33: WEST WIDE MAPS 32 "IT COSTS TO GET
Page 34 and 35: The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd. P.O. Box
Page 36 and 37: 36 MISSION SAN The Desert Magazine/
Page 38 and 39: The Convento in foreground was adde
Page 42 and 43: All owls, even this young one still
Page 44 and 45: DATELINE . . . (Continued from page
Page 46 and 47: Send orders to Box 1318 Palm Desert
Page 48 and 49: Whafs Cooki on th Desert! by STELLA
Page 50 and 51: The Desert Magazine/March 1980
Page 52 and 53: Treasure found by professional TH'e
Page 54 and 55: the road was abandoned and in 1918,
Page 56 and 57: Above: Lonely ore car monument on C
Page 58 and 59: THE TRADING BOOKS/MAGAZINES DESERT
Page 60: CONGRATULATIONS TO WHITES ELECTRONI

BYWAYS PLUS: DATES! - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

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