A surefire and highly optimistic harbinger of spring is the great horned owl. The massive owl is the first Ohio bird species to commence nesting, sometimes laying eggs by late January. Incubating ...

September was different. While patrolling a back road, he noticed something strange. It was a great horned owl, perched in a juniper. Owls are nocturnal, but this one was out in broad daylight.

Reader Todd Mackinaw recently admired how the great horned owl can thrive from the Brooks Range in Alaska all the way to Uruguay in South America. The knee-high owl, known for its “plumicorns ...