This is a juvenile great horned owl estimated to be close to 2 months old. My biologist son took this photo April 12. Great horned owls, along with bald eagles, are the earliest of birds to lay their eggs in Southeast Missouri. Because they are large bodied birds, they are able to lay their eggs in February and still incubate them.

I have heard a lot of owl calls in my life, and the way I have learned to distinguish the difference between the barred owl and the great horned owl is in the cadence. The great horned owl asks, "Who could you be... you be?" while its smaller relative wants to know, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?"

The owl shown here is too young to fly or hunt and must rely on its parents for food such as rodents, small birds and rabbits.