Great Horned Owl Skull

$151.00

The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists’ description as the “winged tiger” or “tiger of the air”) or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas.

Description

Great Horned Owl Skull Replica measures 2.5 inches. Great Horned Owl Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw). Made in USA. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull.

The Great Horned Owl or Bubo virginianus is generally colored for camouflage. The underparts of the species are usually light with some brown horizontal barring; the upper parts and upper wings are generally a mottled brown usually bearing heavy, complex, darker markings. All subspecies are darkly barred to some extent along the sides, as well.

A variable sized white patch is seen on the throat. The white throat may continue as a streak running down the middle of the breast even when the birds are not displaying, which in particularly pale individuals can widen at the belly into a large white area.

South American Great Horned Owl or Bubo virginianus typically have a smaller white throat patch, often unseen unless actively displaying.

Great Horned Owl or Bubo virginianus skin of the feet and legs, though almost entirely obscured by feathers, is black.

Even tropical great horned owls have feathered legs and feet. The feathers on the feet of the great horned are the second longest known in any owl. The bill is dark gunmetal gray, as are the talons.

Great Horned Owl or Bubo virginianus have a facial disc. This can be reddish, brown, or gray in color and is demarked by a dark rim culminating in bold, blackish side brackets.

The Bubo virginianus “horns” are tufts of feathers, called plumicorns. The purpose of plumicorns is not fully understood, but the theory is that they serve as a visual cue in territorial and sociosexual interactions with other owls is generally accepted.

The Great Horned Owl is among the world’s most adaptable owls or even bird species in terms of habitat.

The Great Horned Owl can take up residence in trees that border all manner of deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, tropical rainforests, pampas, prairie, mountainous areas, deserts, subarctic tundra, rocky coasts, mangrove swamp forests, and some urban areas.

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Additional information

Weight 2 lbs
Dimensions 2.5 in
Great Horned Owl Facts

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Bubo
Species: B. virginianus
Binomial name: Bubo virginianus
Conservation status: Least concerned