Great horned owls seem to possess pretty heavy body but their wingspan is probably not as big as someone like golden eagle’s wings. Nonetheless, the hoot owl’s wingspan is only slightly bigger than the snowy owl’s. Great horned owl has a wingspan measuring at 3 to 5 feet. The smallest subspecies has 91-cm-long wingspan while the biggest individuals have wingspan as long as 153 cm. Depends on the subspecies, great horned owls have varied wingspan.
Great Horned Owl Wingspan – Great Horned Owl Wings and Biology of its Feathers
Compared to Eurasian eagle owl, the great horned owl wingspan is significantly smaller. The Eurasian eagle owls can stretch their wingspan up to 190 cm while the great horned owl’s wingspan measures only 153 cm. However the wingspan of an owl is, its flight is deadly to the predators.
The great horned owl’s wings are bigger than that of a falcon. As it turns out, they don’t have to flap their wings as frequently as falcons do.
Unlike falcons, great horned owls are not so fast in the air but they are nevertheless incredible at launching a silent flight one that is barely noticeable. They don’t make a slight bluffing sound even though they fly just a few meters above the surface. By the time rodents notice owls approaching them, it’s too late.
READ: [Great Horned Owl Feathers]
The great horned owl’s wings are bigger than that of a falcon. As it turns out, they don’t have to flap their wings as frequently as falcons do. The bigger wings prevent the bird to beat its wings all too often and so it remains quiet in the air. Here’s another advantage to a great horned owl that is, its feathers appear more like soft blanket’s; each of these feathers offer no air resistance so they create noise. The tips of the owl’s wings are jagged in order to break up the wind as they pass by. All this means the great horned owl is perfectly adaptable to capture prey on the ground.
The length of the wing chord is about 297–400 mm (11.7–15.7 in). The wings cover pretty much of the area in respect to the overall bird’s weight. They have a pretty short tail too measuring around 7 inches in length. Great horned owl’s body is all covered with feathers. Not only do they have strange front posture, great horned owls have flexible bill. The bill is almost 2 inches long and it’s strong enough to slice off meat as well as robust bones.