Our last segment in the breeding cycle is hunting skills.

June and July are probably the most critical learning months for owlets.

They need to learn how to hunt.

They need to learn where to find things.

Where should they go to hunt? They need full body maintenance, preening, feather care, dealing with the elements, etc.

They need all the skills within a two month period to help them survive.

Not all owlets are created the same as far as learning skills.

They don't learn like people learn, but they learn through mimicry, associative behavior, and of course, instinct plays a big part in it.

So in June and July, these young owls are moving about the woodlot, still have a lot of parental support for the feeding, and they are following the parents closely and each day learning where the best hunting spots are, or where a hunting spot dries up, where the best roosting is to keep the crows off their back.

They are learning all things that the adults already know because they've survived, they've made it, they've had those experiences.

If by August the owl's hunting skills have not been refined, things look a little grim for full survival in winter months.

What happens is the birds really know how to, have to learn how to catch the prey item.

The first couple of attempts could be a harrowing experience for them, primarily because if they grab a rabbit by the rear end and the rabbit turns around and bites the feet, the owlet, or I should say juvenile at this point, will let it go and it lost dinner.

They need to know where to make the strike on the prey item and how to make the strike.

And this comes with experience.

So the most experienced hunters will hit a prey item in the forequarters and no, they don't break the neck and rip them apart.

What happens is they kill the prey item as a result of internal bleeding because if they hit the animal in the forequarters, they've pierced all the vital organs like heart, liver, lungs, etc., and there's not much of a battle for the prey item.

So the young have to learn all of these things in short order.

They also have to learn to avoid obstacles when they're going after prey items.

And occasionally they'll fly into branches, hopefully not too hard a crash landing, but all of these things need to be fine tuned.

By November, these birds are hunting on their own and just about ready to be released from parental care.

They will call on occasion to the parents for food, but at that point if all went well in the learning period, they're capable of hunting on their own and able to supply their own diet.

Remember, the parents, if they're going to mate the next year, already start pair bonding October, September, October, and by November, they're almost approaching the courtship period.

So those young need to be gone at that point.

The question is, what do the young owlets do in December? We're coming to the end of the complete cycle.

They're fully adapted with their skills to take care of themselves.

The parents, if they are going to breed again, are moving toward courtship.

And what happens with the young birds? First of all, the resource is not ample to get four birds, parents and two young, through the winter months.

Therefore, the young will have to expand out.

This is the parents' territory, so the young are going to have to move into surrounding areas to get food over the winter.

They range out maybe a couple of miles from their core territory, from their nesting, and they'll overwinter in that area if they have the skills to overwinter.

Actually, January and February of the following years are the two toughest months for them to survive, at least in the temperate areas, because of availability of food.

So they're kind of just ranging out, hanging out until the following spring, and then they move a little bit back closer to the territory.

But as of this time, as of December, they are fully on their own.

Let's hope they've learned all they need to know to survive.

I want to thank you, Judy, for your many years of research and sharing with us your extensive knowledge of this wonderful bird.

You're welcome, Adele.

I always like to speak about great horned owls, and hopefully people will learn about them, keep an eye out for them, and help in their conservation.