GREAT GRAY OWL (Strix nebulosa) 



In spite of an ever-increasing army of individuals expressing an interest 

 in birds and the lure of the natural world, and in spite of the continued 

 diminution of wilderness, the great gray owl remains a bird of mystery, a 

 ghostly apparition of the deep forest. The great gray owl, like another 

 inhabitant of the wilderness, the grizzly bear, and more than any other 

 bird, typifies the mystique of wilderness. The most striking of all owls, 

 the great gray owl is nearly two feet long and has a wingspread of five 

 feet. Prominent concentric circles on facial discs are its most distinctive 

 markings. The great gray owl flies with slow and measured wingbeats, float- 

 ing noiselessly through the forest in search of its prey of mice, voles, 

 chipmunks, and other small mammals. Great gray owls are rare inhabi- 

 tants of the dense forests and adjacent meadows of Yellowstone and Grand 

 Teton. 



Great Cray Owl 



Ronald L. Branson 



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