Great horned owl yawning, yacking, and panting
March 21, 2020
This is the male great horned owl in his daytime perch in a live oak tree in the backyard. You can see him get sleepy and yawn, and he almost falls off the branch as he dozes off. He then works up a good “yack” to cough up a pellet of bones and hair – probably the indigestible bits of a rat he had for dinner.
As the day wears on and the temperature rises, he begins panting to cool off. And then he goes back to sleep.
Rough day!