‘They’re kind of the perfect predator’: Great horned owl survey launches in Sask.

The University of Regina and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum have partnered to learn more about the great horned owl.

Dr. Ryan Fisher, the curator of vertebrate zoology at the museum, told John Gormley great horned owls are quite common in Saskatchewan.

“They nest in all parts of the province,” he explained, “from the border to our south to the north and both to the east and west.”

The species has an incredible knack for surviving, according to Fisher.

“They’ve been really, really successful in landscapes or areas that have a lot of human impacts,” he said. “They’ll nest in trees that have been planted in farmyards. They’ll even nest or roost in old abandoned buildings.”

With the population of great horned owls growing, specifically in southern Saskatchewan, the team hopes to learn how human-made changes to the landscape impact the owls.

Fisher said the owls often use power poles and fences as elevated perches for hunting.

“They’re kind of the perfect predator that we have here in the province. They’re big, they’re silent and the crushing power of their talons is pretty impressive,” Fisher said.

Part of the project requires public participation through an online survey.

“What we would really love people to do is to report their sightings to us,” Fisher said. “If they do find a great horned owl nesting in their farmyard or backyard, we’re interested in all observations.”