Karla Bloem
2021 World Owl Hall of Fame Special Achievement Award winner
Executive Director, International Owl Center
Minnesota, USA

A 3-week old Great Horned Owl fell out of her nest in 1997 and injured her wing too severely to ever be able to fly. Alice was placed with Karla Bloem in Houston, Minnesota to be used as an ambassador to teach people about owls. Because she imprinted on humans, she eventually claimed Karla as her mate. Alice was upset that Karla didn’t know how to behave like a proper male Great Horned Owl, so in self-defense Karla began studying Great Horned Owl vocalizations in 2004. This long-term study expanded to include the vocal and behavioral interactions of more than two dozen captive and wild owls over the past 16 years. This is their story, as it unfolded, and it is juicier than most television soap operas while offering detailed insights into their vocalizations and behaviors.

Great Horned Owls vocalizations are innate and not learned, and the captive owls studied vocalized in the same ways the wild owls did. This intimate, long-term study has engaged many dedicated volunteer observers and has allowed a better understanding of their complete vocal repertoire and associated behaviors, individuality of territorial hoots, vocal development of young owls, regional variation in territorial hoots, and has given small insights into the heritability of territorial hoot characteristics. 

(Because Alice is retired and highly territorial and jealous at home, she will appear only via video.)
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Karla Bloem is the founder and Executive Director of the International Owl Center. Alice’s popularity led Karla to create the International Festival of Owls, the first full-weekend, all-owl event in North America that has served as the inspiration for similar festivals in Italy, Nepal and India. Karla and Alice testified before the Minnesota House and Senate environment committees to successfully gain protection for Great Horned Owls in 2005. She is part of a committee organizing the next World Owl Conference in October 2022 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

​This presentation will also be livestreamed to the International Owl Center’s YouTube channel but will NOT be saved for later viewing after it concludes. Click HERE to register to watch it as a Zoom webinar and be able to ask questions.