Hilton Head Live Raptor Nest Cam
Brought to you by Hilton Head Land Trust, Russell Patterson Law, Hargray and Monster Tree Company

About This Nest:

This is the first and only Hilton Head Island Nest Cam! This nest is on a private undisclosed location on Hilton Head Island.

The nest has two live streaming cameras, one PTZ and one fixed HD camera. The nest is on private property in an undisclosed area of the island.

About Great Horned Owls:

The GHOs have been visiting the nest the past 2 nesting seasons and have been successful in the 2023-2024 season with an egg laid on January 2, 2024, at 3:04 pm ET.

They usually adopt a nest that was built by another species as is the case at the Land Trust nest as previously the nest was utilized by eagles, Mitch and Harriet. In courtship, male performs display flight and feeds the female. Most Great Horned Owls mate for life.

Female GHOs are larger in size than their mate weighing around 3.5 pounds. The male weighs around 2.7 pounds.

Instead of turning eyes, an owl must turn its whole head and the GHO can rotate its neck 270 degrees.

The clutch size is between 1 – 4 eggs and has 1 brood per year. The egg weighs around 1.8 oz.

Incubation period is 28 to 35 days (averaging 33 days) and the young may leave the nest and climb on nearby branches at 5 weeks. The owlets can fly at about 9-10 weeks; tended and fed by parents for up to several months.

The female alone usually does all the incubation and rarely moves from the nest, while the male owl captures food and brings it to her typically soon after dark.

At birth the young weighs 1.22 oz. on average and can gain about 1.2 oz. a day for the first four weeks of life with typical weights in the range of 1.8 or 2.2 pounds by 25-29 days for males and females, respectively. When first hatched the young are covered in whitish gray down, with some brownish about the wings.

Diet includes a variety of mammals and birds. Mammals make up most of the diet including many rats, mice, rabbits, squirrels, possums. Birds include ducks, hawks, and smaller owls.

They also eat snakes, lizards, frogs, insects and rarely fish.

About Hilton Head Island:

Hilton Head Island is part of the Lowcountry region in South Carolina and well known for pristine beaches, wildlife and nature. The island is 12 miles long with significant historical parcels of land, beaches and salt march that hosts deer, alligators and birds. The island is home to a variety of wildlife and other large bird nests call this island home, such as osprey, red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, owls and great blue heron, to name a few.