Kevin

Next time you visit the Maidu Historic Site, be sure to keep your eyes open for the newest resident in that forest, a Great Horned Owl. Last week, workers reported their first sightings of this exciting bird.

“We just discovered a unique visitor at the Maidu Museum, a Great Horned Owl!” said Kaitlin Kincade (PR&L) “This is the first time we have seen this breed of owl on the historic site.”


Owls are predators, but the flock of turkeys who live at the Maidu Historic Site may be a bit too big to be prey for the owl.

Kaitlin works as a senior interpretive service specialist at the Maidu site. She shared that the staff was a bit concerned since our employees were seeing the bird during the day, so they contacted the Gold Country Wildlife Rescue for advice and to look at the bird.

The animal-rescue staffer stated that the owl looked good and healthy; then added that we were probably seeing not just one bird, but possibly an entire family of owls.

 
The Maidu turkeys showed their dominance by displaying their tail-feathers and standing their ground.  It looks like the bigger birds showed the owl they were't too concerned by his presence. Wow! Disrespected by a bunch of turkeys!


These owls will use old hawk nests to raise three to four chicks. Parents work together to feed their chicks mice. This time of year, the chicks are almost as large as their parents and are learning how to fly. They will glide down to the ground and do short hops up to low branches to get back up to the nest. At the same time, the parents are working overtime to provide enough food for their large chicks.

Baby Great Horned Owls often appear to be very “fluffy,” and a bit unsteady. One staffer described them as “still having their training wheels.” The little birds are ready to fly at between 10-and-12-weeks of age.

Great Horned Owls are usually nocturnal, however, they are very protective of their nests. Do not approach the birds.

The Maidu property is 34 acres in size. It’s the home to a diverse family of wildlife that includes squirrels, lizards, and birds of all types, egrets, turtles, Jackrabbits, River Otters, American Kestrels, and many other creatures.