Heartwarming Video of Great Gray Owl Protecting Her Babies Captures Hearts Everywhere

Later, they discovered that this dinosaur likely guarded its own eggs. With new insights into the connection between dinosaurs and birds, we now recognize the devotion birds often show to their babies.

In a perfect example of this, a stunning Great Gray Owl is seen caring tenderly for her two owlets, a clip from a longer YouTube video captured by the Clark family, who spent months observing a Great Gray Owl family in Washington State. Grant and Leah Clark, along with their family, filmed the owlets’ hatching, growth, and eventual independence in a touching journey worth watching.

Fascinating Facts About Great Gray Owls

Great Gray Owls inhabit the Pacific Northwest, Canada, Alaska, and parts of Europe and Siberia. Known for their beautiful, dappled gray feathers and their “surprised” expressions, they appear much larger than they are, weighing just two to two-and-a-half pounds mostly due to their thick plumage.

These owls thrive in conifer forests and prey on small rodents, including mice and chipmunks. With excellent hearing, they locate prey under snow or dense foliage, hunting both night and day.

Nurturing Baby Owls

Interestingly, Great Gray Owls don’t build their own nests. They take over existing nests from birds like goshawks or settle in places such as barn eaves or broken tree tops. While the mother owl is shown protecting her young in this video, raising owlets is a two-parent effort. The mother incubates and guards the babies constantly at first, while the father hunts and provides food. After a few weeks, as the owlets grow, the mother may leave briefly to bathe or hunt for herself, with the father staying close by for protection.

Soon, the young owls begin fledging, leaving the nest and learning to climb and fly. Known as "branching," this stage involves both parents providing food to the fledglings as they practice climbing and eventually flying. Eventually, the mother’s role concludes, and the father continues feeding them until they are fully independent.

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