Athena's Mate Delivers A Morning Meal | March 6, 2026

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For more than a decade, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, has been home to a nesting pair of Great Horned Owls. The female, who they have affectionately named Athena, nests right above the entrance to the courtyard in a sotol planter. When conditions are right and her eggs hatch into owlets, she provides a rare opportunity to view a wild great horned owl rearing her young.

Athena and her mate fledged two young from this site in both 2024 and 2025.

Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that hunt a diverse assortment of prey. They are generally nocturnal hunters, but will also hunt in broad daylight. Throughout the nesting period, the owls may arrive at the nest site with meals of small- to medium-sized mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds of all sizes.

Female Great Horned Owls spend most of the time at the nest caring for eggs and owlets while males hunt for food. After fledging, young may remain with their parents for 3–4 months before dispersing from natal territories.

About The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is the State Botanic Garden & Arboretum of Texas and welcomes more than 276,000 guests annually to its 284 acres of gardens, trails and exhibitions, thus fulfilling its mission of inspiring the conservation of native plants. As a fully self-funded unit of The University of Texas at Austin, the Wildflower Center’s investments in science, conservation and education include a native seed bank, a comprehensive database of North American native plants, and research programs in collaboration with The University. The Center is the embodiment of Mrs. Johnson’s environmental legacy. “The environment is where we all meet, where we all have a mutual interest,” she said. “It is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become.”