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Spotted eagle owls: Keep the romance alive

Giving a Hoot – An article on the courtship behaviour of spotted eagle owls.

There is no difference in colouration in spotted eagle owls, and although sexual dimorphism is a characteristic of the species – with females being larger than males – this is often very hard to notice unless they are next to each other.

Spotted eagle owls are monogamous, which means that they pair up for life. Although, if one of the mates die, he or she is quickly replaced.

Interestingly, even though they pair up for the life, the female owl still needs to be charmed during courtship.

Courtship consists of the male and female calling to each other. The male initiates the call by emitting a hoo-hoo sound, to which the female responds with a triple hoo-hoohoo. The calls are usually synchronised, sounding like a single call.

The male will catch prey and feed the female during the courtship ritual.

Mating usually occurs at dusk or dawn on the ground or in trees.

Owls faithfully return to their nesting sites every year, and in some cases nesting sites have been used by multiple generations. Owls are very reluctant to abandon an established nesting site, however, if the nesting site is no longer available, they will find an alternative which is usually very close by.

 

Also read:

Spotted eagle owls new start

Spotted Eagle Owls – They grow up so fast

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