Feathered siblings captured playfighting before their hunt. See ‘incredible’ moment

A Canadian photographer went into a forest to capture any wildlife he got lucky enough to see.

Little did he know, seeing two great horned owl siblings playfight and groom each other before hunting would would win the title of his “top experiences filming wildlife.”

“I didn’t go for the owls, I just went to see if there was any wildlife I could photograph,” Colton Lockridge of Alberta told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

Lockridge said he “hung around for a few hours,” waiting for some type of interaction until he saw two owls land on a log.

The two juveniles can be seen preening each other and messing around in a Sept. 9 TikTok that’s amassed over 17 million views as of Oct. 5.

“They’re actually a brother and a sister. I showed the video to some of hardcore birders and they said the female is usually bigger than the male so we think the owl on the right is a girl,” Lockridge said.

Lockridge “firmed up his shot with anticipation,” hoping he’d see some kind of action, with one owl hanging out on the tree and the siblings eventually joining it.

“We found out they’re juveniles because adults don’t often engage in that behavior,” he said. “From researching, I’ve gathered it’s a form of playfighting, cleaning each other off and apparently some people also say it’s a form of affection.”

Lockridge said “affection in owls is rare”, and after realizing the pair were siblings, he was “stoked.”

“I was so excited,” he said. “I couldn’t believe what I got to watch.”

Although Lockridge said he photographed other wildlife that day, he said he “couldn’t even remember” it after getting the magnificent shot of the owls. It was all he “could think about.”

“I was willing to stick around past sunset just to see what I could really find,” he said. “I wanted to see if they’d interact more but afterwards another ended up joining them on the log, and as the sun went down they woke up, probably alert enough to go hunting, and went on their way.”

Lockridge said he’s seen “cool stuff” before like baby foxes, but to see affection among birds, especially owls, was “pretty incredible.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2023 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Feathered siblings captured playfighting before their hunt. See ‘incredible’ moment."