title: Great horned owl

text: In mountainous areas of North America, they are usually absent above the tree line, but great horned owls can be found up to in California and in the Rockies. In the Andean Mountains, on the other hand, they have adapted to being a true montane species, often found at least above sea level and are regularly recorded in treeless Puna grassland zones at in Ecuador and Peru. They are generally rare in non-tidal wetland habitat, and are replaced in the high Arctic tundra by snowy owls. They prefer areas where open habitats, which they often hunt in, and woods, where they tend to roost and nest, are juxtaposed. Thus lightly populated rural regions can be ideal. This species can occasionally be found in urban or suburban areas. However, they seem to prefer areas with less human activity and are most likely to be found in park-like settings in such developed areas, unlike eastern and western screech owls ("Megascops asio" & "M. kennicottii") which may regularly occur in busy suburban settings. All mated great horned owls are permanent residents of their territories, but unmated and younger birds move freely in search of company and a territory, and leave regions with little food in winter.


title: Great horned owl

text: In most aspects of their behavior, great horned owls are typical of owls and most birds of prey. From experimentally raising young owls in captivity, felt that they were a bird of "essentially low intelligence" that could only hunt when partially wild and instinctually driven by hunger to hunt whatever they first encounter. He showed captive birds that were provided strips of meat from hatching, rather than having to hunt or to simulate hunting to obtain food, had no capacity to hunt. On the contrary, William J. Baerg compared behaviorally his captive-raised great horned owls to parrots, which are famously intelligent birds, although not as often playful "it knows its keeper and usually accepts whatever he wishes to do with a good deal of tolerance". Arthur C. Bent also noted the variability in temperaments of great horned owls to their handlers, some generally pleasant, though most are eventually aggressive. Most captive specimens, once mature, seem to resent attempts at contact and are often given to attacking their keepers. They will only follow cues when conditioned from an early age but rarely with the same level of success seen in some diurnal birds of prey trained for falconry or entertainment, although this does not necessarily correlate with intelligence as posited by Errington. Carl D. Marti also disagrees with Errington's assessments, noting that their prey selection is not as "completely random as Errington suggested"; while "Great Horned Owls appeared to select their mammalian prey in general relation to the prey populations...cottontails, appeared to be selected as prey out of relation to their population status."


title: Great horned owl

text: Like most owls, the great horned owl makes great use of secrecy and stealth. Due to its natural-colored plumage, it is well camouflaged both while active at night and while roosting during the day. During the daytime it roosts usually in large trees (including snags & large hollows but usually thick branches) but may occasionally be in crevices or small caves in rocks or in dense shrubbery. Pine and other coniferous trees may be preferred where available since they are particularly dense and provide cover throughout the year. Typically, males have a favorite roosting site not far from the nest, sometimes used over successive years. While roosting, great horned owls may rest in the "tall-thin" position, where they sit as erect and hold themselves as slim as is possible. The kind of posture is well known as a further method of camouflage for other owls, like long-eared owls or great grey owls, especially if humans or other potential mammalian carnivores approach them. The Eurasian eagle owl rarely, if ever, assumes the tall-thin position. Outside of the nesting season, great horned owls may roost wherever their foraging path ends at dawn. Generally great horned owls are active at night, although in some areas they may be active in the late afternoon or early morning. At dusk, the owl utters a few calls before flying to a more open sing-post, i.e. large bare branch or large rocks to deliver song. Normally several perches are used to mark occupied territory or to attract a female. Despite its camouflage and cryptic locations, this species can still sometimes be spotted on its daytime roosts, especially by American crows ("Corvus brachyrhynchos"). Since owls are, next to red-tailed hawks, perhaps the main predator of crows and their young, crows sometimes congregate from considerable distances to mob owls and caw angrily at them for hours on end. When the owls try to fly off to avoid this harassment, they are often followed by the corvids.


title: Great horned owl

text: Typically, great horned owls are highly sedentary, often capable of utilizing a single territory throughout their mature lives. Although some species such as snowy owls, northern saw-whet owls, long-eared and short-eared owls are true migrants, most North American owls are not migratory and will generally show fidelity to a single territory year around. In great horned owls, mated pairs occupy territories year-round and long-term. Territories are established and maintained through hooting, with highest activity before egg-laying and second peak in autumn when juveniles disperse, and can range from an average of in Yukon to an average of in Wyoming.


title: Great horned owl

text: Most territorial defense is performed by males, but females frequently assist their partners in hooting contests with neighbors or intruders, even during incubation. On occasion, although territory borders may be successfully maintained via vocalizations alone without even seeing the competing owl, such confrontations may turn physical, with various levels of threats distinguished. The highest threat level involves the spreading of wings, bill-clapping, hissing, higher-pitched screams of longer duration, with general body poised to strike with its feet at intruder. If the intruder continues to press the confrontation, the defending owl will "hop" forward and strike it with feet, attempting to grasp and rake with claws.


title: Great horned owl

text: Territoriality appears to place a limit on the number of breeding pairs in a given area. Individuals prevented from establishing a territory live a silent existence as "floaters". Radio-telemetry revealed that such floaters concentrate along boundaries of established territories. At Kluane Lake in Yukon, incursions into neighboring territories were observed only twice—by females when a neighboring female had died or emigrated, suggesting that territorial defense may be sex-specific. At least four dead great horned owls in Kluane were apparently killed by others of their own species in territorial conflicts. Owls killed by other horned owls are sometimes cannibalized, although the origin of the killing may have been territorial aggression. Northern populations occasionally irrupt south during times of food shortage, but there is no annual migration even at the northern limits of the great horned owl's range.


title: Great horned owl

text: Hunting tends to peak between 8:30 pm and midnight and then can resume from 4:30 am to sunrise. Hunting tends to be most prolonged during winter by virtue of prey being more scarce. However, great horned owls can learn to target certain prey during daylight in the afternoon when it is more vulnerable, such as eastern fox squirrels ("Sciurus niger") while they're building their leaf nests and chuckawallas ("Sauromalus ater") sunning themselves on desert rocks. Owls hunt mainly by watching from a snag, pole or other high perch. During hunting forays, they often fly about from perch to perch, stopping to survey for food at each, until they sense a prey item below. From such vantage points, owls dive down to the ground, often with wings folded, to ambush their prey. Effective maximum hunting distance of an owl from an elevated perch is . Due to their short but broad wings, great horned owls are ideally suited for low speed and maneuverability. Despite reports that they do not hunt on the wing, they also sometimes hunt by flying low over openings on the ground, scanning below for prey activity. Great horned owls can fly at speeds of more than in level flight. Hunting flights are slow, often quartering low above the ground where prey is likely to occur in open country or open woodland. Brief hovering flight (for about 6–18 seconds) has been described, especially in windy areas. On occasion owls may actually walk on the ground in pursuit of small prey or, rarely, inside a chicken coop to prey on the fowl within. Rodents and invertebrates may be caught on foot around the base of bushes, through grassy areas, and near culverts and other human structures in range and farm habitat. The great horned owl is generally a poor walker on the ground; it walks like a starling, with a pronounced side-to-side gait. They have been known to wade into shallow water for aquatic prey, although this has been only rarely reported. Owls can snatch birds and some arboreal mammals directly from tree branches in a glide as well. The stiff feathering of their wings allows owls to produce minimal sound in flight while hunting.


title: Great horned owl

text: Almost all prey are killed by crushing with the owl's feet or by incidentally stabbing of the talons, though some may be bitten about the face as well. Prey is swallowed whole when possible. When prey is swallowed whole, owls regurgitate pellets of bone and other non-digestible bits about 6 to 10 hours later, usually in the same location where the prey was consumed. Great horned owl pellets are dark gray or brown in color and very large, long and thick, and have been known to contain skulls up to in width inside them. However, not all prey can be swallowed at once, and owls will also fly with prey to a perch and tear off pieces with their bill. Most dietary studies focus on pellets found under perches and around nests, since they provide a more complete picture of the diversity of prey consumed, but prey remains outside of pellets may provide clues to prey excluded from the pellets and a combination of both is recommended. Many large prey items are dismembered. Great horned owls may behead large prey before taking it to its nest or eating perch. The legs may also be removed, as may (in some bird prey) the wings. The great horned owl will also crush the bones of its prey to make it more compact for carrying. On occasion, the owls may return to the kill site to continue eating if the prey is too heavy to fly with after dismemberment. Many owls will accrue a cache of prey, especially those who are nesting. Caches must be at a safe location, usually the crotch of a tall tree. In northern regions, where large prey is prevalent, an owl may let uneaten food freeze and then thaw it out later using its own body heat. Hunting success seems to require fairly open understory, and experimental testing of microhabitat proved that open areas provided more hunting success on five species of rodent, with cloudy nights and denser bush foliage both decreasing success.


title: Great horned owl

text: Prey can vary greatly based on opportunity. According to one author, "Almost any living creature that walks, crawls, flies, or swims, except the large mammals, is the great horned owl's legitimate prey". In fact, the great horned owl has the most diverse prey profile of any raptor in the Americas. Over 500 species have been identified as great horned owl prey, with dozens more identified only to genus or general type (especially numerous invertebrates) and presumably several more unknown from their relatively little-studied populations in the Neotropics. Mammals (more than 200 species) and birds (nearly 300 species) make up the majority of their diet. Their diet in North America is made up of 87.6% mammals, 6.1% birds, 1.6% reptiles and amphibians with the remaining 4.7% being made up by insects, other assorted invertebrates and fish. Estimated mass of individual prey for the owls has ranged from as little as to as much as Most prey is in the range of (shrews) to (jackrabbits). A single owl requires about of food per day and can subsist on a large kill over several days. Despite the great diversity of prey taken by these predators, in most of the continental United States from the East to the Midwest as well as Canada and Alaska, great horned owls largely live off just a handful of prey species: three species of lagomorph: the eastern cottontail ("Sylvilagus floridanus"), the snowshoe hare ("Lepus americanus") and the black-tailed jackrabbit ("Lepus californicus"); two species of New World mice: the white-footed mouse and the North American deermouse ("Peromyscus leucopus & maniculatus"); approximately three species of vole: the meadow, prairie and woodland voles ("Microtus pennsylvanicus, ochrogaster & pinetorum"); and one introduced pest, the brown rat.


title: Great horned owl

text: Small rodents form the great majority of great horned owl prey by number. Weighing a mere and on average, the nine species of New World mice in "Peromyscus" and eight species voles in "Microtus" recorded in the diet would appear to be overly small to be as important as they are to a predatory bird of this size. The prominence of these genera is undoubtedly due to the abundance of both genera in the wooded edge habitats frequented by great horned owls. It is estimated that a family of owls with two offspring would need to take about a half dozen (voles) to a dozen (mice) of these rodents every night to satisfy their dietary requirements but apparently the accessibility and abundance of these foods is irresistible as their numeric dominance is indisputable. By winter in areas that hold heavy snow, "Peromyscus" mice often come to outnumber the voles in the diet since the mice tend to travel over the surface of the snow while the voles make tunnels underneath the snow. In fact, a healthy family of great horned owls can decimate a colony of field rats, thus potentially performing a key role in controlling a highly destructive pest. Great horned owls living in the timbered fringes of garbage or refuse dumps may subsist mostly on rats.


title: Great horned owl

text: In the Rockies, California, the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, the diversity of this species' diet rises, in sync with the diversity of rodents. Especially important, from Colorado to Washington state is the northern pocket gopher ("Thomomys talpoides"), although assorted other pocket gophers ("Geomys, Cratogeomys, Zygogeomys, Pappogeomys" and other "Thomomys" ssp.) are readily taken. While the northern weighs from , other pocket gophers hunted average from in mass. From Washington to Baja California a very important food is the pocket mice, primarily the Great Basin pocket mouse ("Perognathus parvus"). While the Great Basin species is a relative giant at , other hunted pocket mice (which may include both "Perognathus" and "Chaetodipus" ssp.) can average nearly as light as . In East Texas, the hispid cotton rat ("Sigmodon hispidus") is the most commonly recorded prey species. The same species constituted 75% by number of a small sampling in Oklahoma. In semi-desert and other arid habitats, kangaroo rats become increasingly important prey, ten species have been reported in the diet but most prominently the Ord's and Merriam's kangaroo rats ("Dipodomys ordii & merriami"), both being widespread, numerous and relatively diminutive (at ). Eight known larger species of kangaroo rats, including the giant kangaroo rat ("Dipodomys ingens") averaging at , are also taken.


title: Great horned owl

text: The squirrels, including ground squirrels, marmots ("Marmota"), prairie dogs ("Cynomys"), chipmunks and tree squirrels, are diurnal and so are largely unavailable to great horned owls as prey. Occasionally though, one will be caught from their leaf nest, nest hole or burrow entrance first thing in the morning or in the late afternoon and approximately 35 species have been successfully predated by these owls. In general larger sized than other rodent families, the species hunting range from the gray-collared chipmunk ("Tamias cinereicollis") to the hoary marmot ("Marmota caligata"); thus, squirrels can be provide a very fulfilling meal. An even larger rodent is sometimes attacked as prey by great horned owls, the North American porcupine ("Erethizon dorsatum"), in which average adults range from . This has been determined from owls who have porcupine quills imbedded in them, sometimes resulting in death. On occasion, they are successful in killing porcupine, even adults as determined by the size of the quills left behind and prey remains at bloodied kill sites. Other rodents recorded as secondary prey in North America include flying squirrels ("Glaucomys" ssp.), the golden mouse ("Ochrotomys nuttalli"), red-backed voles & bog lemmings ("Myodes" & "Synaptomys" ssp.), the muskrat ("Ondatra zibethicus"), the northern grasshopper mouse ("Onychomys leucogaster"), the northern pygmy mouse ("Baiomys taylori") and jumping mice ("Zapus" & "Napaeozapus" ssp.).


title: Great horned owl

text: Although generally no match for rodents in sheer quantity of individuals, in terms of prey biomass, the most significant prey of North American great horned owls are hares and rabbits. About a dozen lagomorphs species are known to be hunted by the owl, from the relatively tiny pygmy rabbit to several hares weighing more than . Two hare species, the black-tailed jackrabbit and snowshoe hare, are so important to the owls as a food source that the local owl populations sharply rise and fall in sync with the hares' cyclical population trends. With adult weights of in adult cottontails, in snowshoe hares and in black-tailed jackrabbits, these species are overall the largest regular prey for this species. In Utah, where great horned owls are dependent on the jackrabbits, average brood size rose from 2 at jackrabbit population lows to 3.3 when the jackrabbits were at their peak. At the peak of population cycle, jackrabbits accounted for 90.2% and desert cottontails ("Sylvilagus audubonii") for another 8.7% of prey biomass. In the short-grass prairie of Colorado, mountain cottontail ("Sylvilagus nuttallii") and black-tailed jackrabbits predominated in October to December, making up 42.9% by number (and nearly all the biomass), thence dropping to 9.3% by number in April, while voles rose to 32.2% peak in May, down to a minimum of 10.2% by number in June. Further north in Colorado, in the absence of jackrabbits, the mountain cottontails falls to third place by number (12.9%) behind the northern pocket gopher (36.5%) and prairie vole (24.7%) but still dominates the biomass, making up about half. In central Utah, the lagomorphs (black-tailed jackrabbit/desert cottontail) and Ord's kangaroo rat each made up 39% of the food by number, respectively. The mountain cottontail dominates the biomass of prey in the Sierran foothills of California, making up 61.1% of the biomass, although are numerically secondary to desert woodrat. Remarkably, in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area of Idaho, individual rodents (1159 counted) were more than 10 times more numerous than lagomorphs (114 counted) by quantity and yet the jackrabbit and mountain cottontail still made up approximately half of the biomass. The dependence on lagomorphs also extends into Mexico, as in Baja California about a quarter of identified prey was black-tailed jackrabbit and either desert or the larger Mexican cottontail ("Sylvilagus cunicularius"). In the northern boreal forest, great horned owls are even more dependent on the snowshoe hare. At the peak of the 10 year hare cycle, snowshoe hares were by far the largest component of both summer and winter diets (77–81% and 90–99%, respectively, in Alberta; 83–86% and 75–98%, respectively, in Yukon). At the lowest point of the hare's cycle, summer diets consisted of only 0–16% snowshoe hare in Alberta and 12.7% in Yukon. When hares were scarce, great horned owls in these regions fed mostly on large rodents, mice and voles, grouse and ducks. Because fewer of these alternative prey species are available in boreal forest during winter, owls had to emigrate or suffer high mortalities if they stayed. In Alberta, the local population of great horned owls can increase threefold from hare population lows to peaks. The dependency on the snowshoe hare by the great horned owl extends into Alaska as well.


title: Great horned owl

text: Other mammals are taken readily as well. From both the tropics and the United States, several species of opossum may be taken, down to the size of the tiny dwarf fat-tailed mouse opossum ("Thylamys velutinus"). In Brazil, white-eared opossum ("Didelphis albiventris") were found in 12% of pellets, but all specimens appeared to be juveniles each weighing about . Quite differently, in Pennsylvania, Virginia opossum ("Didelphis virginianus") made up 6% by number of prey but due to their large size (approximately ) and that all specimens were adults, they occupied the highest percentage of biomass of any species in a wide study from that state. At least eight species of shrews are taken by opportunity and make up the smallest mammalian prey taken by great horned owls, as specimens of least shrew ("Cryptotis parva") or masked shrew ("Sorex cinereus") have had an estimated weight of only . One of the more regularly taken shrews, though, is the larger northern short-tailed shrew ("Blarina brevicauda"), which was represented in more than 2% of pellets in the Upper Midwest. Moles, of at least four or five species, are also widely but lightly reported as prey. Remnants of armadillo, presumably nine-banded armadillo ("Dasypus novemcinctus"), have been found around owl nests in the south. 11 species of bat are known to be hunted by great horned owls. One pellet in Texas was found to be composed entirely of Mexican free-tailed bats ("Tadarida brasiliensis"). Smaller species of mammalian carnivore, such as ringtail ("Bassariscus astutus"), American mink ("Neogale vison"), black-footed ferret ("Mustela nigripes") and various other small mustelids ("Mustela" ssp.), are sometimes taken as prey. Prey in the form of canids, like foxes or coyotes ("Canis latrans") are often juveniles presumably snatched from the mouths of dens by night. Kit and swift foxes of up to adult size may taken. Surprisingly, at least two cases of a great horned owl preying on an adult raccoon ("Procyon lotor") have been reported. One instance of an owl taking a bobcat ("Lynx rufus") as prey was also reportedly observed. In one case, a great horned owl was the likely killer of an adult female fisher ("Martes pennanti"), though young ones are typically taken. Occasionally, domestic carnivores are also prey. A few cases of young or small dogs ("Canis lupus familiaris") and several of juvenile and adult cats ("Felis silvestris catus") being killed by great horned owls have been reported. The most infamous predatory association amongst relatively larger carnivores is that with skunks. Due to their poor sense of smell, great horned owls are the only predators to routinely attack these bold mammals with impunity. All six skunk species found in North America are reported as prey, including adult striped skunks ("Mephitis mephitis"), which can be three times as heavy as the attacking owl. In one single nest, the remains of 57 striped skunks were found. Due to the proclivity of skunk predation, great horned owls nests frequently smell strongly of skunk and occasionally stink so powerfully of skunk that they leave the smell at kill sites or on prey remains.


title: Great horned owl

text: After mammals, birds rank as the next most important general prey group. Birds are usually considerably secondary in the diet but outnumber the mammals in the diet by diversity, as more than 250 species have been killed in North America alone. Statistically, the most significant avian prey seems to be galliforms, of which they are known to have preyed on 23 species, basically consisting of all of the native species found in the United States. In the Upper Midwest, the ring-necked pheasant ("Phasianus colchicus") and northern bobwhite ("Colinus virginianus") were the fifth and sixth (out of 124 identified species) most significant prey species in 4838 pellets. Errington characterized the predatory pressure exerted on bobwhites by great horned owls as "light but continuous pressure", which may be considered characteristic of the species' hunting of all galliforms. Usually coveys of quail are partially protected by spending the night roosting communally in dense thickets but should a hunting owl be able to track down the communal roost, losses can be fairly heavy until the roost relocates. Similarly, owls may track down sleeping grouse, which also roost in vegetation but more openly than quail. Some grouse, such as greater prairie chicken ("Tympanuchus cupido"), sharp-tailed grouse ("Tympanuchus phasianellus") and greater sage-grouse ("Centrocercus urophasianus"), may also been vulnerable to great horned owls while displaying conspicuously in openings on a lek first thing in the morning. In the boreal forest, especially in years where the snowshoe hare experiences population decreases, great horned owls prey fairly heavily (approximately 25% of biomass) on ruffed grouse ("Bonasa umbellus") and spruce grouse ("Falcipennis canadensis"), enough so in the earlier bird to possibly contribute to population reductions. Larger species of galliform are not immune to predation either. On Protection Island in Washington state, introduced common peafowl ("Pavo cristatus") are an important prey item. The wild turkey ("Meleagris gallopavo"), on average between the sexes, is probably the largest bird the great horned owl hunts in which they kill adults. Both full-grown wild turkeys and adult domestic turkeys have been hunted and killed. Under normal circumstances, domestic chicken ("Gallus gallus domesticus") will be ignored in favor of wild prey. On occasion, individual owls, especially inexperienced juveniles, will become habitual fowl killers. These errant owls mainly hunt chickens, though will also take domestic guineafowl, turkeys and anything else available. In general, chickens kept in locked cages with enclosed tops overnight are safe from great horned owls; not so chickens left free range or in open enclosures.


title: Great horned owl

text: While galliforms are widely reported, the few cases where great horned owls locally turn to birds as the primary food source over mammals, these may often be local responses to the abundance of breeding water birds or concentrations of roosting water birds, since they tend to roost in relatively open spots. They have been known to predate more than 110 different species of assorted water bird. In prairie wetlands of North Dakota, avian prey, primarily represented by ducks and the American coot ("Fulica americana") came to represent 65% by number and 83% by biomass of the diet of the local owls, also including secondarily grebes, smaller rails and shorebirds as well as upland-based species like grey partridge ("Perdix perdix"), sharp-tailed grouse and passerines. 77% of the ducks in that study were juveniles, the largest duck being a male mallard ("Anas platyrhnychos") weighing approximately , but nearly all the coots were adults. On Protection Island, Washington, where they are no native land mammals, rhinoceros auklets ("Cerorhinca monocerata"), both adults and nestlings, were the most numerous prey, present in 93% of 120 pellets. Species as large as adult Canada geese, snow goose and great blue herons have been successfully killed. The nestlings of even larger species like trumpeter swans ("Cygnus buccinator"), American white pelicans ("Pelecanus eryhtrorhynchos"), brown pelicans ("Pelecanus occidentalis") and sandhill cranes ("Grus canadensis") have also been killed by these owls.


title: Great horned owl

text: Other assorted birds are taken seemingly at random opportunity. The predatory effect of this species on other raptorial birds, which is often considerable, is explored in the following section. In Brazil, it was found in a small study that birds overall outnumbered mammals in pellets, although most were not determined to species and the ones that were shown a tremendously diverse assemblage of birds with no obvious dietary preference. Although not usually numerically significant, 86 species of passerine have been taken by great horned owls. Members from most North American families are known as prey, although among smaller types such as chickadees, warblers, sparrows, cardinals, wrens and most tyrant flycatchers only a few species from each have been recorded. Nonetheless, an occasionally unlucky migrant or local breeder is sometimes snatched. Fledgling songbirds are regularly taken in spring and summer. The smallest avian prey known for great horned owls are the blue-grey gnatcatcher ("Polioptila caerulea") and the ruby-crowned kinglet ("Regulus calendula"). Somewhat larger bodied families are more prominent, i.e. the corvids (14 species) and icterids (14 species) and, secondarily, the kingbirds ("Tyrannus" ssp.), thrushes, mimids and European starling ("Sturnus vulgaris"). This is likely due to the fact that the larger passerines usually roost in relatively open spots and have larger, more conspicuous nests. Crows and ravens tend to be grabbed off of their communal roosts by night.


title: Great horned owl

text: The great horned owl rarely misses an opportunity to hunt reptiles and amphibians. However, lizards are largely unavailable as prey due to their typically diurnal periods of activity. However, some snakes are partially or largely nocturnal, and more than a dozen species are hunted in North America. Snakes hunted range from small, innocuous garter snakes ("Thamnophis" ssp.) and night snakes ("Hypsiglena torquata") to venomous species like cottonmouths ("Agkistrodon piscivorus") and prairie rattlesnakes ("Crotalus virdis") and formidable, large species like common king snakes ("Lampropeltis getula") and black rat snakes ("Pantherophis obsoletus"), which in mature specimens can rival the owl in mass and sheer predatory power. The capture of the hatchlings of very large reptiles such as loggerhead turtles ("Caretta caretta") and American alligators ("Alligator mississippiensis") by great horned owls has been reported, in both cases likely when the baby reptiles are attempting to make their way to the security of water. On rare occasion, salamanders, frogs and toads are reported as prey. On rare occasions, fish are taken including goldfish ("Carassius auratus"), bluegill ("Lepomis macrochirus"), bullheads ("Ameiurus" ssp.), other catfish, suckers, sunfish, eels and dace and chub. Many types of invertebrates are recorded as prey. These include mainly insects, but also crayfish, crabs, spiders, scorpions and worms. The occasionally invertebrate prey taken largely consists of common, large insects such as various beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, water bugs and katydids, some of which the great horned owl has even reportedly caught via "hawking", i.e. swooping at on the wing. In some cases, the content of insects in great horned owl pellets may actually be due to the owls eating other birds which have freshly eaten insects in their own stomachs. It is commonly believed that routine insectivory in great horned owls is mainly restricted to inexperienced young owls too unskilled to graduate to larger prey yet. It is clearly inefficient for owls of this size to attempt to raise young on a diet of foods as small as insects. Although rare, carrion-feeding has been recorded in great horned owls, especially ones wintering in Canada and other northern areas during harsh weather. Road kills are sometimes opportunistically eaten. A case of an owl scavenging a white-tailed deer ("Odocoileus virginianus") carcass, ultimately tearing off the deer's leg, was captured on a motion capture video camera set out to film wildlife.


title: Great horned owl

text: Studies comparing the diets of rural and urban great horned owls have identified that the most abundant rodent prey in their environment fulfils the majority of their diet. A study of food niche overlap between closely nested barn and great horned owls living in rural north-eastern Oregon identified voles as by far the most common prey. In southwestern British Columbia, Townsend's voles were the most common prey species, while consumption of rats increased as the nesting location became more urban and rats replaced voles as the most abundant and stable food source. A similar focus on rats was found in populations in urban parks in Seattle. Although a stable and highly abundant food source, a diet consisting of primarily rats can be harmful to urban great horned owls due to bioaccumulation of rodenticides.


title: Great horned owl

text: Due to their very broad dietary habits, the great horned owls share their prey with many other predators, including avian, mammalian and reptilian ones. Almost every study comparing the diets of North American owls illustrates the considerable overlap in the dietary selection of these species, as all species, besides the primarily insectivorous varieties, rely on many of the same small rodent species for most of their diet, extending from the small northern saw-whet owl and eastern screech owl to the great horned and great grey owls.


title: Great horned owl

text: In a long-term study of a block of Michigan, all nine species of accipitrid, falcon and owl that stayed to breed there were found to be primarily dependent on the same two rodent genera, the meadow vole and the two common "Peromyscus" species. In the Great Basin, the owls share black-tailed jackrabbit and desert cottontail as the primary prey with golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and ferruginous hawks ("Buteo regalis"); all four species had diets with more than 90% of the biomass is made up of those lagomorphs. Of these, the great horned owl and golden eagle were able to nest most closely to one another because they had the most strongly dissimilar periods of activity. In California, when compared to the local red-tailed hawks and western diamondback rattlesnakes ("Crotalus atrox"), the diets were most similar in that by number about 15-20% of all three species' diets depended on cottontails, but the largest portion was made up of ground squirrels in the hawk and the rattlesnake and desert woodrats and other assorted rodents in the great horned owl. In the boreal forests, the great horned owl's prolificacy as a snowshoe hare hunter places it second only to the Canada lynx ("Lynx canadensis") among all predators. Although locally dependent on the hares as their main food, northern goshawks ("Accipiter gentilis"), red-tailed hawks and golden eagles apparently do not have as large of an impact on the hares, nor do mammalian carnivore generalists that also kill many hares, like the fisher, bobcat, wolverine ("Gulo gulo"), coyote and larger varieties (i.e. wolves ("Canis lupus"), cougars ("Puma concolor") and bears ("Ursus" ssp.)).


title: Great horned owl

text: The relationship between great horned owls and other raptorial birds in its range is usually decidedly one-sided. While certain species, such as the red-tailed hawk and northern goshawk, might be seen as potential competition for the owls, most others seem to be regarded merely as prey by great horned owls. The great horned owl is both the most prolific and diverse predator in America of other birds of prey, with other accomplished raptor-hunters such as the goshawk and the golden eagle being more restricted in range, habitat and number in North America and thus having a more minor impact. All studies have found raptors are a small portion of this owl's diet but predation can be seriously detrimental for such prey, as raptors tend to be territorial and sparsely distributed as a rule and thus can be effectively decimated by a small number of losses. In the gray hawk ("Buteo plagiatus"), for example, in a study of one breeding block of Arizona, the owls were observed to visit nests nightly until all the nestlings were gone.


title: Great horned owl

text: Raptorial birds in general tend to have large, conspicuous nests which may make them easier for a hunting owl to locate. The great horned owl gains an advantage by nesting earlier than any other raptor in its range (indeed any bird), as it is able to exploit the other raptors as food while in a more vulnerable state as their own nestlings have become well developed. On average, great horned owls begin nesting about three weeks before red-tailed hawks begin to build nests, although some raptors may locally breed as much as two months after the owls.


title: Great horned owl

text: More so than diurnal varieties of raptor, fairly significant numbers of owls are hunted, as all species are to some extent nocturnal and thus their corresponding activity can attract the horned owl's unwanted attention. The extent of predation on other owls depends on the habitat preferences of the other species. Eastern and western screech owls may be most vulnerable since they prefer similar wooded edge habitat. In a block of Wisconsin, great horned owls were responsible for the failure of 78% of eastern screech owl's nests. Long-eared owls and, to a lesser extent, barn owls tend to hunt in open, sparsely treed habitats more so than great horned owls, but since they may return to wooded spots for nesting purposes, they may be more vulnerable there. The long-eared owl and barn owls are often compared to the great horned owl as these medium-sized species often occur in abutting habitats and often hunt primarily the same vole and mice species, although the alternate prey of the great horned tends to be much larger, including the smaller owls themselves. In a pair of studies from Colorado, the average weight of prey for long-eared owls was , for barn owl and for the great horned owl.


title: Great horned owl

text: Both young and adult great grey owls, despite their superficially superior size, are apparently hunted with impunity by great horned owls. In the boreal forests, both the northern hawk owl and great grey owl appear to be in greater danger of great horned owl predation in years where the snowshoe hare have low populations. Great horned owls were the leading cause of mortality in juvenile spotted owls (30% of losses) and juvenile great grey owls (65% of losses). Less is known about relations with the snowy owl, which may compete with great horned owls for food while invading south for the winter. Anecdotally, both snowy and great horned owls have rarely been reported to dominate or even kill one another depending on the size and disposition of the individual owls, although the snowy's preference for more open areas again acts as something of a buffer. The snowy may be the one North American owl too formidable for the great horned owl to consider as prey.


title: Great horned owl

text: Whereas owls of any age are freely attacked by great horned owls whether nesting or not, when it comes to diurnal raptors, great horned owls are mainly a danger around the nest. They often hunt diurnal raptors when they come across their often relatively conspicuous active platform nests during hunting forays in spring and summer, taking numbers of both nestlings and brooding adults. Again, like owls, diurnal raptors are attacked depending on the relative similarity of their habitat preferences to the owl. Cooper's hawks ("Accipiter cooperii") and red-tailed hawks tend to be most vulnerable, as they prefer the same wooded edges frequented by great horned owls. Other diurnal raptors may be attracted to more enclosed wooded areas, such as sharp-shinned hawks ("Accipiter striatus") or zone-tailed hawks ("Buteo albonotatus"), or more open plain and meadow areas, such as Northern harriers ("Circus hudsonius") and ferruginous hawks, but this is almost never a total insurance against predation as all of these are recorded prey.


title: Great horned owl

text: In a study of red-shouldered hawk ("Buteo lineatus") and broad-winged hawk ("Buteo brachyurus") breeding in New York, despite their nesting in deeper woods than those that host these owls, the main cause of nest failure was great horned owl predation. Similarly, the great horned owl was the primary cause of nesting failure for both desert-dwelling Harris's hawks ("Parabuteo unicinctus") and forest-dwelling northern goshawk in Arizona (39% and 40% of failures, respectively), wetland-inhabiting osprey ("Pandion haliaetus") in Delaware (21% of failures) and peregrine falcons ("Falco peregrinus") in the Western United States (27% of failures). The fact that many of the nests great horned owls use are constructed by accipitrids may lead to localized conflicts, almost always to the detriment of the hawks rather than the owls. While the young of larger diurnal raptors are typically stolen in the night, great horned owls also readily kill large adult raptors both in and out of breeding seasons, including osprey, northern goshawk and rough-legged buzzard.


title: Great horned owl

text: Great horned owls are frequently mobbed by other birds. Most accipitrids will readily mob them, as will falcons. Hen harriers, northern goshawks, Cooper's hawks, Harris's hawks, red-tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks, ferruginous hawks, red-shouldered hawks, American kestrels, peregrine falcons, prairie falcons ("Falco mexicanus") and common ravens ("Corvus corax") are among the reported species who have been recorded diving on great horned owls when they discover them. In Arizona and Texas, they may be mobbed by Mexican jays and western scrub jays ("Aphelocoma wollweberi & californica") and western and Cassin's kingbirds ("Tyrannus verticalis & vociferans"). In addition, there are several documented incidences of American crows mobbing a great horned owl, in groups of dozens or even hundreds of crows. In response to mobbing, if the owl flies it alights to the nearest secluded spot. If an owl alights on ground or on exposed branch or ledge, it may respond to swooping and stooping flights of corvids and raptors with threat display and raising of its wings.


title: Great horned owl

text: Great horned owls are some of the earliest-breeding birds in North America, seemingly in part because of the lengthy nightfall at this time of year and additionally the competitive advantage it gives the owl over other raptors. In most of North America, courtship is from October to December and mates are chosen by December to January. This species was once thought to be strictly monogamous, but recent analysis indicates one male may mate with two females simultaneously, as was discovered for the first time in 2018 in Reno, Nevada. During courtship in late fall or early winter, the male attracts the attention of his mate by hooting emphatically while leaning over (with the tail folded or cocked) and puffing up his white throat to look like a ball. The white throat may serve as a visual stimulus in the low light conditions typical of when this owl courts. He often flies up and down on a perch, while approaching the potential mate. Eventually, he comes to approach the female and tries to rub his bill against hers while repeatedly bowing. If receptive, the female hoots back when the pair meet but is more subdued in both her hoot and display. The male may convince the female by bringing her freshly caught prey, which they will share. While males often hoot emphatically for about a month or six weeks towards the end of the year, the period where females also hoot is usually only a week to ten days. Pairs typically breed together year after year and may mate for life, although they associate with each other more loosely when their young become mostly independent. Pairs rekindling their reproductive relationship in the winter may perform a milder courtship to strengthen pair bonds before producing young.


title: Great horned owl

text: Males select nesting sites and bring the females' attention to them by flying to the nest and then stomping on it. Considering the owls' large size, nests with open access are preferred to those enclosed with surrounding branches. Like all owls, great horned owls do not build their own nest. Great horned owls tend to examine an area for an abandoned nest, generally from larger birds like hawks, and take over the nest for raising their own young. They nest in a wider variety of sites than any other North American bird. Many nests are in cavernous hollows of dead trees or their branches, and especially in southern states in large trees along the edge of old-growth lots. In mountainous or hilly areas, especially in canyons of the Southwest and Rocky Mountains, cliff ledges, small caves, and other sheltered depressions may be used. Owls living in prairie country, in the absence of other animals' nests, riparian tree-hollows or man-made structures, will use boulders, buttes, railroad cuts, low bushes and even the bare ground as nest sites. Ground nests have also been recorded in the midst of tall grasses in Florida and in the midst of brushy spots on desert ground. Even the burrow entrances of American badger and coyote dens have reportedly been used as nests, in spite of the inherent risk of sharing space with such potentially dangerous co-inhabitants. Nesting behavior for the great horned owl appears to be more closely related to prey availability than it does to seasonal conditions. There has been some evidence that if prey availability is low enough then the species may forgo mating entirely for a season. Male and female owls of the species have been observed to help incubate the eggs once they have been laid on a nest.


title: Great horned owl

text: Most tree nests used by great horned owls are constructed by other animals, often from a height of about off the ground. They often take over a nest used by some other large bird, sometimes adding feathers to line the nest but usually not much more. Allegedly there have some cases where the owls have reinforced a nest structure or appeared to have reconstructed a nest, but as a rule no owl species has ever been known to actually build a nest. Great horned owls in the Southwest may also use nests in cacti, built by Harris's hawk and red-tailed hawk, as well as large hollows in cacti. The nests they use are often made by most larger types of acciptrids, from species as small as Cooper's hawks to bald eagle and golden eagle, though perhaps most often those of red-tailed hawks and other buteonines. Secondly in popularity are crow and raven ("Corvus" ssp.) nests. Even Canada goose, black-crowned night heron ("Nycticorax nycticorax") and great blue heron nests have been used, the latter sometimes right in the midst of an active heronry. The leaf nests of squirrels are also regularly used but in general great horned owls are partial to stick nests since they provide a much firmer, safer foundation.


title: Great horned owl

text: The stage at which eggs are laid is variable across North America. In Southern Florida, eggs may be laid as early as late November to as late as early January. In the southeast, from south Texas to Georgia, egg laying may begin from late December to early February. From Southern California to northern Louisiana, egg laying is from early February to late March. The largest swath of egg-laying owls from central California to South Carolina to as far north as Ohio and Massachusetts is from late February to early April. In the Rocky Mountains, Northwestern United States, northern New England and eastern Canada, egg laying is from early March to late April. In the rest of Canada and Alaska, egg laying may be from late March to early May. The latest known date of egg laying was in mid-June in Saskatchewan and the Yukon Territory. In northwestern Utah and north-central Alberta, egg-laying can be 3–4 weeks earlier than usual when food is abundant and weather is favorable. For owls found in more tropical climates, the dates of the breeding season are somewhat undefined. There are usually 2 eggs per clutch, but clutches range in size from 1 to 6 eggs (over 3 is uncommon, over 4 is very rare), depending on environmental conditions. The average egg width is , the average length is and the average weight is , although mass could be slightly higher elsewhere because this figure is from Los Angeles County, CA where the owls are relatively small. The incubation period ranges from 28 to 37 days, averaging 33 days. 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, with the first nightly food delivery typically occurring soon after dark.


title: Great horned owl

text: The young weigh at birth on average and can gain about a day for the first four weeks of life, with typical weights in the range of 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. Gradually the soft juvenal downy plumage comes through the down, being typically a cinnamon-buff color, but with variable hues predicting the eventual color of the mature owls. The extent of down gradually diminishes, developing mature-looking plumage by late summer, although many first year birds still have scattered bits of down into autumn. By late autumn, first-year birds look similar to adults but with a slightly warmer, reddish tinge, less well developed ear tufts and a smaller white throat patch. The nestling owls develop mostly in behavior between two weeks and two months of age, in which time they adapt the ability to defend themselves, grasp foods and climb. Vocally, the young are able to exert weak chips while still in the egg, developing into a raspy chirp shortly after hatching. The calls of the young increase rapidly in intensity, pitch and character, some juvenile males mimicking their father's hooting in fall but usually they conclude with various odd gurgling notes. The earliest competent hooting by juvenile owls is not until January. Young owls move onto nearby branches at 6 weeks and start to fly about a week later. However, the young are not usually competent fliers until they are about 10 to 12 weeks old. The age at which the young leave the nest is variable based on the abundance of food.


title: Great horned owl

text: The young birds stay in an area ranging from 13 to 52 ha from the nest into fall, but will usually disperse up to several thousand hectares by the end of fall. The offspring have been seen still begging for food in late October (5 months after leaving the nest) and most do not fully leave their parents territory until right before the parents start to reproduce for the next clutch (usually December to January). Birds may not breed for another year or two, and are often vagrants ("floaters") until they establish their own territories. Based on the development of the bursa, great horned owls reach sexual maturity at two years of age.


title: Great horned owl

text: While urban and rural populations show little difference in productivity, there are differences in nest selection. Rural owls use old raptor nests more frequently than urban birds, who utilize crow or squirrel nests. Additionally, urban nesting individuals utilize trees that are taller/wider in diameter and nest much higher compared to rural nesting Great Horned Owls. The reason behind this increased tree height is due to the fact that urban areas have large trees used for ornamentation, shade and shelter. The higher nesting within the taller trees was attributed to human avoidance. Both rural and urban nesting sites were often within range of paved roads, likely a result of the great horned owl’s tendency to hunt along roadways


title: Great horned owl

text: Studies have shown that nesting in urban areas can influence adult great horned owls to lay eggs earlier than those who nest in rural areas. In Wisconsin, eggs in urban nests hatched a month earlier (January rather than February) than their counterparts in rural areas, probably due to increased protection from wind and cold. Nesting owls at sites in Winnipeg, Manitoba began nesting five to six weeks earlier than those in rural parts of Manitoba, presumably due to experiencing an extremely warm winter by Winnipeg’s standards, as well as benefitting from the local urban heat island.


title: Great horned owl

text: Great horned owls seem to be the most long-living owl in North America. Among all owls, they may outrank even the larger Eurasian eagle owl in known longevity records from the wild, with almost 29 years being the highest age for an owl recorded in North America. In captivity, the record for the longest lived great horned owl was 50 years. A more typical top lifespan of a great horned owl is approximately 13 years. In general, great horned owls are most vulnerable in the early stages of life, although few species press attacks on the owl's nests due to the ferocious defensive abilities of the parents. Occasionally, nestlings and fledglings will fall from the nest too early to escape or to competently defend themselves and fall prey to foxes, bobcat, coyotes, or wild or feral cats. Occasionally raccoons and American black bears consume eggs and nestlings from tree nests and Virginia opossum may take the rare unguarded egg. Crows and ravens have been reported eating eggs and small nestlings. This can normally only happen when owls are driven from the nest by human activity or are forced to leave the nest to forage by low food resources but on occasion huge flocks of crows have been able to displace owls by harassing them endlessly. In general, great horned owls rarely engage in siblicide, unlike many other raptorial birds. Siblicide occurred at 9 of 2,711 nests in Saskatchewan. Most cases where young owls are killed and/or consumed by their siblings or parents appear to occur when the nestling is diseased, impaired or starving or is inadvertently crushed. Adults generally have no natural predators, excepting both North American eagles and other owls of their own species.


title: Great horned owl

text: Occasionally, great horned owls may be killed by their own prey. Although typically able to kill skunks without ill effect, five owls were found blind after getting sprayed in their eyes by skunks. Cases where the quills of porcupines have killed or functionally disabled them have been observed as well. Violent fights have been observed between great horned owls after attempts to capture rat snakes and black racers. When a peregrine falcon repeatedly attacked a great horned owl near its nest along the Hudson River, it was apparently unable to dispatch the larger raptor despite several powerful strikes. During their initial dispersal in fall, juvenile owls have a high mortality rate, frequently more than 50%. For owls in the Yukon Territory, juvenile survival in the 9 weeks after dispersal has dropped from 80% to 23.2% in a span of three years in response of instability of food supply. In the Yukon, adults on territory had an average annual survival rate of 90.5%. Anemia, caused by "Leucocytozoon ziemanni" and the drinking of blood by swarming, blood-drinking blackflies ("Simulium" ssp.), was a leading cause of juvenile mortality in the Yukon.


title: Great horned owl

text: The great horned owl is not considered a globally threatened species by the IUCN. Including the Magellanic species, there are approximately 5.3 million wild horned owls in the Americas. Most mortality in modern times is human-related, caused by owls flying into man-made objects, including buildings, cars, power lines, or barbed wire. In one study, the leading cause of death for owls was collision with cars, entanglement with wires, flying into buildings and, lastly, electrocution. Among 209 banded nestlings in yet another study, 67% were found dead after independence: 56 were found shot, 41 were trapped, 15 hit by cars, 14 found dead on highways and 14 electrocuted by overhead power lines. Secondary poisoning from pest control efforts is widely reported variously due to anticoagulant rodenticides, strychnine, organophosphates (famphur applied topically to cattle ("Bos primigenius taurus")), organochlorines, and PCBs.


title: Great horned owl

text: Frequently, the species were denominated a pest due to the perceived threat it posed to domestic fowl and potentially small game. The first genuine nature conservationists, while campaigning against the "Extermination Being Waged Against the Hawks and Owls", continued to advocate the destruction of great horned owls due to their predatory effect on other wildlife. Thus, small bounties were offered in trade for owl bodies. Around the turn of the 20th century, the great horned owl was considered endangered in the state of Michigan because of the large number of poachers who were illegally hunting and collecting it. Hunting and trapping of great horned owls may continue on a small scale but is now illegal in most countries.


title: Great horned owl

text: Occasionally, these owls may prey on threatened species. Following the devastation to its populations from DDT, the reintroduction of the peregrine falcon to the Mississippi and Hudson Rivers was hampered by great horned owls killing both young and adult peregrines at night. Similarly, as mainly recorded in New England, attempts to reintroduce ospreys, after they were also hit hard by DDT, were affected by heavy owl predation on nestlings, and the owls were also recorded to take a large toll locally on the threatened colonies of roseate terns. Where clear-cutting occurs in old-growth areas of the Pacific Northwest, spotted owls have been badly affected by considerable great horned owl predation. While at least the ospreys and peregrines have rebounded admirably nonetheless, bird and mammal species that are much rarer overall sometimes fall prey to great horned owls, many in which even sporadic losses can be devastating. Among the species considered threatened, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN which are also known to be killed by great horned owls are Townsend's ground squirrels ("Urocitellus townsendii"), Pacific pocket mice ("Perognathus pacificus"), giant kangaroo rats, Stephens' kangaroo rat ("Dipodomys stephensi"), black-footed ferrets, greater and lesser prairie chickens, marbled murrelets ("Brachyramphus marmoratus"), ivory-billed woodpeckers, Florida scrub jays ("Aphelocoma coerulescens"), pinyon jays, Kirtland's warblers ("Setophaga kirtlandii") and rusty blackbirds ("Euphagus carolinus"). The American Bird Conservancy's "green list" includes birds with considerable population declines (many classed as near threatened by the IUCN) or other immediate threats and/or restricted populations. Altogether, great horned owls hunt 50 different species from that list.


title: Great horned owl

text: Many warrior-based tribes of Native Americans admired the great horned owl for their "strength, courage and beauty". The Pima of the Southwest believed that owls were reincarnations of slain warriors who fly about by night. The Arikara of the Great Plains had mystic owl societies in which initiates were made to adorn a facial mask made of the wing and tail feathers of great horned owls. Some Indian nations regarded the great horned owl as a friendly spiritthat could aid in matters of love, such as the Passamaquoddy of Maine, who felt the call of this species was a magical love flute designed to ignite human passions. The Hopi of the Southwest also associated this owl with fertility, albeit of a different kind: they believed the calling of the owls into summer predicted hot weather, which produced good peach crops. During the winter solstice, the Hopi performed a ceremony with great horned owl feathers in hopes of summoning the heat of summer. Tribes in New Mexico were known to use owl wing-feathers to produce arrows which could strike their enemies with a minimum of sound. The Zuni held owl feathers in their mouths hoping to gain some of the silence that owls use in ambushes while striking their own enemies from other tribes. The Iroquois felt the origin of the great horned owl was due to an unformed owl annoying Raweno, the almighty creator, while Raweno created the rabbit, causing Raweno to make the owl "covered with mud" (dark camouflage) and doomed to ceaselessly call "whoo whoo", which he used while harassing Raweno by night because Raweno was active during the day.


title: Danny Brown

text: Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He has been described by MTV as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory".


title: Danny Brown

text: In 2010, after amassing several mixtapes, Brown released his first studio album, "The Hybrid". Brown began to gain major recognition after the release of his second studio album, "XXX" (2011), which received critical acclaim and earned him such accolades as "Spin", as well as "Metro Times" "Artist of the Year". In 2013, he entered a US "Billboard" chart, with the release of his third studio album, "Old", which reached number 18 on the US "Billboard" 200 chart and spawned three singles, "Dip", "25 Bucks" and "Smokin & Drinkin", which peaked at number 31 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. His fourth studio album, "Atrocity Exhibition", was released on September 27, 2016, and his fifth studio album, "U Know What I'm Sayin?", was released on October 4, 2019, both albums being received with further critical acclaim.


title: Danny Brown

text: Brown was born Daniel Dewan Sewell in Detroit on March 16, 1981, the son of an 18-year-old mother and 16-year-old father. His father is half Filipino. His talent for rhyming came at a very young age, as his mother would read Dr. Seuss books to him as a child; when he began to speak, he would talk in rhyme. His father was a house DJ who exposed him to all the music he would spin, as well as music from the likes of Roy Ayers, LL Cool J, Esham, and A Tribe Called Quest. For as long as he could remember, Brown had always wanted to be a rapper: "In kindergarten I'd say I wanted to be a rapper and people'd just laugh at me. 'That's a pretty funny job,' they'd say."


title: Danny Brown

text: Brown's young parents did their best to shelter him from the Detroit street crime and gang life: "My parents ain't really want me out the house. They did as much as they possibly could to keep me in the house with whatever the newest video game was. But you know you can only keep a kid in for so long. Plus that had me sheltered, so once I did get away I used to disappear for like four days." His two grandmothers helped provide for his family. His maternal grandmother worked for Chrysler, and she bought four to five houses: "To this day we still got those houses. She owns three houses in a row on that block. She raised her three children and a host of others in the middle house; the one to the left she paid cash for in the '90s from her long time neighbor; and the one on the right was her parents' home that she inherited when they died." She also owned two other homes on the east side of Detroit, one in which Brown was raised. The fifth house, also located on the east side, was occupied by his aunt and her family. Originally from the Dexter-Linwood way of Detroit, he later moved to Hamtramck. He heavily associates with Detroit in his music.


title: Danny Brown

text: At age 18, Brown became a drug dealer: "Once I got above a certain age, all that parent shit stopped. My mom and my pops split up. Once my pops left, I was the man of the house. I always told myself I was going to be a rapper my whole life. I was selling drugs since that's what all my friends were doing. And it was kind of like something to rap about maybe." Although his intentions were to stop once he got in trouble with the law, Brown was already too accustomed to the lifestyle: "I always told myself once I got my first [legal] case I was gonna stop. Then I got my first case, but I didn't stop. I got distribution and manufacturing and possession with intent to distribute. I was 19." His run-ins with the law didn't stop there: "I caught my second case loitering with some weed, but it violated my probation but I ran and I didn't go to court. I just ran for like at least five years. But once I got caught I had to do eight months. [...] I had nothing else, so I just started going back to studying music and trying to become a rapper." After his release from jail in 2007, he began to take his passion seriously and turn it into a career: "I had more confidence when I got out of jail because the day when I got out of jail I started selling weed. I ain't had no money after the first two months, like, 'I was way better off in jail.' By then I was already making my New York trips and going to recording studios so I was already serious when I got locked up."


title: Danny Brown

text: Brown began his career in a hip hop group called Rese'vor Dogs, alongside fellow Detroit-based rappers Chips and Dopehead. In 2003, the trio independently released an album titled "Runispokets-N-Dumpemindariva" under Ren-A-Sance Entertainment and F.B.C. Records. In the summer of 2003, the group received mild rotation on Detroit radio stations with their lead single, "Yes". After growing up on hip hop and tuning his rhyming skills in the city, Brown landed the attention of Roc-A-Fella Records A&R Travis Cummings, who flew Brown out to New York City, where he began recording in other artists' studios. After a lack of success with Roc-A-Fella, Brown returned to Detroit and eventually linked up with Detroit-based producer Nick Speed.


title: Danny Brown

text: In 2010, Brown befriended fellow American rapper Tony Yayo of G-Unit, and they recorded their collaborative album "Hawaiian Snow" (2010). The G-Unit association led many to wonder if Brown would eventually sign with G-Unit leader 50 Cent's label G-Unit Records. However, he did not fit G-Unit's image as he favors fitted jeans and a vintage rock-inspired wardrobe, with Brown later telling MTV: "It was a real thing. 50 was with it; he just didn't sign me because of my jeans. He liked the music, but he didn't like the way I looked. I understand where they were coming from with that, but you gotta understand where I'm coming from too: I'm from Detroit."


title: Danny Brown

text: After recording and releasing four volumes of his "Detroit State of Mind" mixtape series and other free self-released mixtapes, Brown released his first solo studio album, "The Hybrid" (2010), on indie record label Rappers I Know. It was this album where he began to use his trademark high-pitched voice: "The first song that I ever rapped [with the high-pitched voice] was 'The Hybrid,' that's why we called it 'The Hybrid.' I think that was [when I found my voice]. That was the statement that I can rap and I can do every style of rap." The album came to fruition after he had written the aforementioned song: ""The Hybrid" started out because I started working with Hex Murder. Hex was managing me at the time and I had started recording in Black Milk's studio. We were working on a project and I had come up with the song 'The Hybrid,' so that gave me my whole intent on what I wanted to do with my next project. I started writing a new album and that's the album that I wrote. Then I hooked up with my homie Magnetic and he would just look out for me and gave me free studio time—so I would go record from 3 in the morning til 6 in the morning, because we were using the free time when nobody was there. Then I hooked up with Frank from Rappers I Know. I liked what he was doing with his blog. He looked out for me and helped me out a lot and then we put it out and the rest is history."


title: Danny Brown

text: On March 15, 2011, it was revealed Brown had signed to Brooklyn-based indie record label Fool's Gold Records: "My manager [Emeka Obi] asked me who I wanted to sign to and I said there's two labels I want to sign to: XL or Fool's Gold. He knew [people at] Fool's Gold. He saw Nick Catchdubs in a burrito spot, asked him about it, and Nick said he'd get back to him. Q-Tip and A-Trak went and ate lunch around last March. A-Trak told Q-Tip he was thinking about signing me and Q-Tip told him to do it. A-Trak called me and signed me. I met Q-Tip but I know Ali Shaheed more. Ali Shaheed is kind of like a mentor to me. Around the time of "The Hybrid," I met him through Frank from Rappers I Know and he just started showing me love. We talk on the phone a lot."


title: Danny Brown

text: Signing to Fool's Gold Records proved to be Brown's biggest commercial and critical move. The label would go on to release his second studio album, "XXX," as a free download. It received numerous critical accolades, including being named the best hip hop album of the year by "Spin." "Pitchfork" gave his album an 8.2 out of 10, saying, "If "XXX" was nothing but debauchery and desperation, it would quickly devolve into an endless slog. Thankfully, Brown is also hilariously funny, an endlessly inventive rapper driven to cook up outrageous variations on standard rap boasts." The publication later named "XXX" the 19th best album of 2011. "XXX" was also named the 6th-best album of 2011 by Passion of the Weiss, which called it "an uncomfortably honest self-portrait made even more remarkable by the fact that Danny Brown is alive to tell the story."


title: Danny Brown

text: On November 1, 2011, Brown released his collaborative effort with American record producer Black Milk; an extended play (EP) appropriately titled "Black and Brown!." On November 28, 2011, Brown released the music video for the "XXX"-cut, "Blunt After Blunt." The video was directed by fellow American rapper ASAP Rocky, who also made a cameo appearance. In the wake of his success with "XXX," Brown began touring with Childish Gambino in March 2012. On March 13, 2012, Brown released the visual treatment for the brandUn DeShay-produced track "Radio Song" from "XXX." The video was directed by Alex/2tone.


title: Danny Brown

text: In 2012, Brown was featured on the cover of "XXL" as part of its annual "Top 10 Freshmen list" along with fellow then-up-and-coming rappers Hopsin, French Montana, MGK, Iggy Azalea and Roscoe Dash, among others. "The Fader" enlisted both Kendrick Lamar and Danny Brown to cover the front pages of its 2012 Spring Style issue. In a January 2012 interview, singer Jennifer Herrema revealed that Danny Brown would be featured on the second album by Australian electronic music group The Avalanches. Later in the year, Brown confirmed that he was working with The Avalanches on a song titled "Frankie Sinatra." On Brown's official website, he confirmed that he would be performing at the 13th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos. Brown signed a partnership deal with Adidas Originals, which is Brown's latest sportswear.


title: Danny Brown

text: In February 2012, Brown was featured first on the cover of the publication "The Fader", in its 78th issue. On March 22, 2012, Brown teamed up with Scion A/V to release a new song titled "Grown Up." The music video for "Grown Up," later released on August 20, was also presented by Scion A/V. In August 2012, it was rumored that Brown was working on a new album titled "Danny Johnson," to be entirely produced by Johnson&Jonson (Blu and Mainframe), but Brown later denied these rumors and confirmed that the album had already been released for free in 2010, under the title "It's a Art." In August, Brown also performed at the 13th annual Gathering of the Juggalos. In September, Brown teamed up with Scion A/V once again to release the debut project of his rap group Bruiser Brigade (a hip hop collective featuring Brown, Chips, Dopehead, Trpl Blk, ZelooperZ and in-house producer SKYWLKR). The project was a four-track extended play (EP) eponymously titled "Bruiser Brigade."


title: Danny Brown

text: In October 2012, Brown was featured on the soundtrack to the film "The Man with the Iron Fists" on a track titled "Tick, Tock," alongside fellow American rappers Raekwon, Joell Ortiz and Pusha T. On October 24, 2012, Brown released the music video for a song titled "Witit," taken from the deluxe edition of "XXX" and his "OD EP;" later that day after "Complex" kept referring to his next album as "Danny Johnson," Brown took to Twitter to reveal the correct tentative title to be "ODB." From September to November, Brown appeared alongside Schoolboy Q and ASAP Mob as supporting acts for ASAP Rocky's 40-date national Long. Live. ASAP Tour.


title: Danny Brown

text: In December 2012, Brown announced "ODB" had been completed. He explained that the album won't be as consistently humorous as "XXX" but said people will be surprised with the outcome: "The new album is done. We're pretty much just figuring out a way of presenting the right way to get released…the title of the album for now is "ODB." I can't really elaborate on what that means until the album comes out, and then they'll get it. I don't want to give too much because then it'll be a much more rewarding listen for my fans." He continued, "It's a rewarding listen when I listen to it. I don't know if I laugh as much - I think I laugh when it's over with, and that's the difference between this album and "XXX." With "XXX," you laugh throughout it, and by the time it was over with, you were like, 'Oh that wasn't too funny.' This one, when it's over, you're laughing hysterically…it's not necessarily what's being said on the album, but the album [itself], like, 'I can't believe he made this.'" "Rolling Stone" magazine named Brown's single "Grown Up", the 41st-best song of 2012.


title: Danny Brown

text: In a December 2012 interview with "Pitchfork," Brown revealed the album would actually be titled "Old." The album, released under Fool's Gold, was released to music retailers, unlike any of his previous releases. The album includes contributions from ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Kitty and Purity Ring, the latter of whom are contributing production, along with a hook from vocalist Megan James.


title: Danny Brown

text: In January 2013, it was announced that Brown would be performing at the 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In the summer of 2012, Kathy Griffin invited Danny Brown and ASAP Rocky to appear on the Valentine's Day episode of her talk show "Kathy." On February 14, Brown appeared alongside ASAP Rocky and Russell Brand, on Griffin's late-night talk show where they played a dice game called "Suck breast? Kiss stomach?" and discussed the possibility of having children.


title: Danny Brown

text: On March 1, 2013, Brown and American record producer Baauer, announced their upcoming "Worst of Both Worlds" Tour. For the trek, the Fool's Gold signees started off in Houston, Texas on April 9 at Fitzgerald's. The brief tour, which only hit the West Coast, made stops in Austin, Texas, Tucson, Arizona and San Francisco, California. They played both weekends of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, wrapping up the tour on the second weekend (April 20). On March 8, Brown announced another tour in promotion for his upcoming album, the "Old & Reckless" Tour, featuring American female rapper Kitty. For his first-ever headlining tour, Brown began at SXSW on March 15 with a pair of shows. After completing his "Worst of Both Worlds" trek with Baauer, Kitty joined him for stops in St. Louis, Missouri, Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, New York and Madison, Wisconsin. The tour concluded at Indianapolis, Indiana's Deluxe on May 14. In March, Brown also won his first award ever at the 2013 Woodie Awards, winning in the "Best Video" category for "Grown Up."


title: Danny Brown

text: On March 18, 2013, Brown revealed in a Twitter post that "Old" would be released around the time "XXX" came out, which was mid August. On March 23, it was announced Brown had signed a management deal with Goliath Artists, which also houses names such as Eminem, The Alchemist, Blink-182 and most recently Action Bronson, who has previously collaborated with Brown. On May 3, Brown announced through Twitter that "Old" would feature guest appearances from Freddie Gibbs, Schoolboy Q, Mr. MFN eXquire, Scrufizzer, ASAP Rocky, Ab-Soul, Charli XCX and Purity Ring. He also said the production on the album was handled by Paul White, Oh No, Rustie, Skywlkr, A-Trak, Darq E Freaker and Frank Dukes. After an unfinished version leaked earlier in the year, Brown visited Tim Westwood on BBC Radio 1xtra in June 2013 to premiere the official version of "Kush Coma," a song featuring ASAP Rocky taken from the "Old" album. On July 23, Brown was featured rapping alongside Insane Clown Posse in the music video for their song "When I'm Clownin'."


title: Danny Brown

text: On August 12, Brown said on Twitter that he felt less than a priority at Fool's Gold Records: "Man #OLD fuck around and never come out ... Smh," tweeted Brown, referring to his forthcoming album "Old." Brown then threatened to leak the album himself: "I'm a fuck around and leak that shit myself if niggas don't get it together." Subsequently, Fool's Gold Records founder A-Trak, announced that "Old" was indeed in the label pipeline, with a music video on the way. On August 26, 2013, Brown announced via Twitter that "Old" would be released on September 30, 2013. "Old" debuted at number 17 on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 15,000 copies in its first week of release.


title: Danny Brown

text: On October 3, 2013, Danny Brown and A-Trak announced their "Double Trouble" tour. In November 2013, Brown was featured in the interactive music video for American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 1965 hit single "Like a Rolling Stone." In January 2014, Brown guest starred in the Fox animated TV series "Lucas Bros. Moving Co.," voicing a character named Jumanji in the first-season episode "A/C Tundra." Brown's song "Witit" was also featured in the episode. On January 22, 2014, Danny Brown made his network television debut with a special performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!." Joined by Purity Ring vocalist Megan James, Brown performed "25 Bucks," a track off "Old."


title: Danny Brown

text: In April 2014, "Hot Soup," one of Brown's early mixtapes, was re-released as a double LP and 7-inch with 7 bonus tracks for Record Store Day. It was also released on CD with a bonus disc of instrumentals. Along with "Hot Soup," Brown also released "Old" as a double LP and a box set. On March 25, 2014, Brown appeared "The Arsenio Hall Show," where he promoted his third album "Old" and performed the single "Dip" from the album.


title: Danny Brown

text: On July 10, 2014, Brown opened for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in front of 37,500 people in Marlay Park, Dublin. On July 11 and 12, Brown opened in front of 100,000 fans for Eminem's sold-out concert at Wembley Stadium in London. In November 2014, Brown appeared on the song "Detroit vs. Everybody" alongside fellow Detroit-based rappers Eminem, Royce Da 5'9", Trick-Trick, Dej Loaf and Big Sean, from the Shady Records compilation album "Shady XV."


title: Danny Brown

text: In October 2014, Brown announced he was working on a new album. In January 2015, Brown announced he was working on a Dr. Seuss-inspired children's book, written for his 13-year-old daughter: "It's really about self-esteem in black girls," the rapper told radio station Triple J during his Australian tour. "You know how black women do so much – process their hair, change their eye color? It's really about a little girl who does all these things to herself and changes herself, and she realizes she's just better off the way she is." In April 2015, when asked if his album was done, Brown responded: "Almost. I took a break from it cause I'm so ahead of schedule with it knowing it ain't coming out no time soon".


title: Danny Brown

text: In 2015, Brown announced he was writing a children's book intended for young black girls. That same year, he became the lead artist on the theme song for the ABC comedy series "Fresh Off the Boat". On June 10, 2016, Brown revealed on Instagram that he was "putting the final touches" on his fourth album. On June 14, Brown announced his signing to Warp Records and released the first official single from his upcoming album, titled "When It Rain". On July 17, Brown stated his new album would be titled "Atrocity Exhibition", taking inspiration from the Joy Division song. In August 2016, Brown appeared on "The Eric Andre Show", alongside ASAP Rocky, Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, and Go Dreamer, in a segment titled "Rapper Warrior Ninja". His album "Atrocity Exhibition" was shortlisted by IMPALA (The Independent Music Companies Association) for the Album of the Year Award 2016, which rewards on a yearly basis the best album released on an independent European label.


title: Danny Brown

text: In late April 2019, it was announced that Brown's fifth studio album, titled "uknowhatimsayin¿", would be released later that year, featuring production from Q-Tip, JPEGMafia, and Paul White. In June 2019, Viceland announced that Brown would star in a talk show titled "Danny's House" produced by Derrick Beckles. The show's first season began on August 14, 2019. Since August 12, 2019, he plays the character Griffin in Nathan Barnatt's web series "Dad Feels" and was featured in the song "Dad Feels Good". In December 2019, he appeared as himself in a "Grand Theft Auto Online" expansion as a radio host with Skepta. Brown also lent his voice to Yung Ancestor, another fictional character in the game. In 2020, Brown was once again featured on "The Eric Andre Show", appearing with Talib Kweli as "Guest Judges" for the show's recurring segment "Rapper Warrior Ninja", after having been a contestant his previous appearance. In March 2021, he featured on the band Brockhampton's first single from their album "" called "Buzzcut".


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: On the afternoon of February 18, 2001, American stock car racing driver and team owner Dale Earnhardt was killed instantly due to a basilar skull fracture in a final-lap collision in the 2001 Daytona 500, in which he crashed into a retaining wall after making contact with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader. He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center a short time later.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Earnhardt's death was officially pronounced at the nearby Halifax Medical Center at 5:16 p.m. EST (22:16 UTC). At the time of the crash, he was 49 years old. His funeral was held four days later at the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Earnhardt was the fourth NASCAR driver killed by a basilar skull fracture during an eight-month span, following Adam Petty in May 2000, Kenny Irwin Jr. in July 2000, and Tony Roper in October 2000. Earnhardt's death, seen on a live television broadcast with more than 17 million viewers, was highly publicized and resulted in various safety improvements in NASCAR auto racing.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: After Earnhardt's death, NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety—mandating the use of head-and-neck restraints, installing SAFER barriers at oval tracks, setting rigorous new inspection rules for seats and seat-belts, and developing a roof-hatch escape system and the Car of Tomorrow—which eventually led to the development of a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind. Since Earnhardt's death, no driver has died during competition in a race of NASCAR's three major series.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Earnhardt died while competing in the 2001 Daytona 500, a NASCAR-sanctioned automobile race at Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR sanctions required the use of a carburetor restrictor plate for races held at that track as well as Talladega Superspeedway. In 2000, the year before Earnhardt died, NASCAR instituted additional restrictions to the springs and shocks used on the cars, causing Earnhardt to complain to the media, "[The rules] took Nascar Winston Cup racing and made it some of the sorriest racing. They took racing out of the hands of the drivers and the crews. We can't adjust and make our cars drive like we want. They just killed the racing at Daytona. This is a joke to have to race like this."


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: In response to criticism such as Earnhardt's, NASCAR developed a new aerodynamic package for the cars competing in Winston Cup Series races at Daytona and Talladega. In the initial running of this aerodynamic package at Talladega, Earnhardt passed 17 cars within four laps to win the fall 2000 Talladega race which proved to be his 76th and final career win. The 2001 Daytona 500 was the first race run at the track with this package, which was designed to keep cars bunched up close together and to allow more frequent passing at high speed.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: In the weeks before the Daytona 500, Earnhardt elected not to attend the annual fan and media preview event, drawing vocal criticism from fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. On February 3 and 4, 2001, for the first time in his career, Earnhardt participated in the Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona, the event which kicks off Speedweeks at the track. Earnhardt and his teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Earnhardt's son), Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins, finished fourth overall and second in class.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Ultimately, however, 2001 Speedweeks would be the first in many years that Earnhardt failed to win one race. In the Budweiser Shootout, Earnhardt finished second to Tony Stewart. Earnhardt was also denied victory in the Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race. Earnhardt had won every Twin 125 event he competed in during the 1990s, and was poised to win again in 2001 when Sterling Marlin pulled off a slingshot pass going down the backstretch, taking the victory away from Earnhardt.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: The morning of the race, Earnhardt appeared confident and relaxed. He was a front-runner throughout the race, leading 17 laps. In the first three quarters of the race, there were only two caution flags: the first one on lap 49 when Jeff Purvis hit the wall exiting turn 4 and the other on lap 157 when rookie Kurt Busch hit the frontstretch wall while trying to pass Joe Nemechek and slid through the infield and onto pit road.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: On lap 173, Earnhardt's car was in seventh place, with two of his team's cars, the blue No. 15 Chevrolet driven by Michael Waltrip and the red No. 8 Chevrolet driven by his son Dale Earnhardt Jr., running first and second in front of him. On that lap, a huge crash on the back straightaway eliminated 18 cars in a spectacular fashion. Those involved in the crash were Jason Leffler, Steve Park (another of Earnhardt's drivers), both Rusty (who would rally back to finish third) and Kenny Wallace, Jeff Gordon (the eventual Winston Cup champion for 2001) and Robby Gordon, both Bobby (the defending Winston Cup Champion) and Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton (who had led the most laps in the race so far with 53), Jerry Nadeau, John Andretti, Buckshot Jones, Dale Jarrett (the defending Daytona 500 winner), and Andy Houston. The crash began when Robby Gordon turned into Ward Burton at the exit of turn 2. Stewart got hit by Ward, turned backwards against the outside wall, and was pushed airborne over Gordon. Stewart then flipped over twice, hooking to Bobby Labonte's hood, and stood on his front wheels before coasting to a stop in the infield, while Burton's car turned sideways and collected most of the field behind him. Earnhardt, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, and Mike Wallace were five of the few drivers who escaped the crash scene. The race was red-flagged to allow for cleanup.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Between the time of the lap 173 crash and a lap 180 restart, Earnhardt conversed with his pit crew over the radio. The owner of Earnhardt's car, Richard Childress, describes one remark made by Earnhardt during that time. "Richard, if they don't do something to these cars, it's gonna end up killing somebody."


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: During the ensuing caution, Earnhardt had his last conversation with his crew, between him and his Rolex 24 teammate Andy Pilgrim:


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Pilgrim related that there was no further crew conversation with Earnhardt, but that he did cheer on teammates Waltrip and Dale Jr. over the radio, up to the end of the race.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: The race restarted on lap 180, with Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. still out in front. Sterling Marlin, who had beaten Earnhardt in the Gatorade Duel, led the next three laps before Waltrip took the lead again. The lead changed several times between Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. during the next few laps.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: As the laps wound down, Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. were running in first and second place, with Earnhardt Sr. behind them, blocking Marlin's attempts to pass. With less than two laps remaining, Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip noted that "Sterling had beat the front end off of that ol' Dodge (Marlin's car) just trying to get around Dale Earnhardt, Sr."


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: As the cars entered turn 3 on the final lap, Earnhardt still held third, running in the middle lane of traffic with Marlin's No. 40 Dodge just behind him in the bottom lane. Meanwhile Rusty Wallace's navy blue No. 2 Ford was positioned directly behind Earnhardt, with Ken Schrader riding the high lane above Earnhardt in his yellow M&M's-sponsored No. 36 Pontiac.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: The accident occurred in turn final turn of the final Earnhardt made light contact with Marlin and slid off course. When Earnhardt attempted to regain control and turned back onto the track, he crossed in front of Schrader, hitting Schrader and dragging his car up the track. Earnhardt collided head-on into the retaining wall at a critical angle with his car going an estimated speed between , enough to break the right rear wheel assembly off the car. Upon impact, his hood pins severed, causing his hood to open and slam up against the windshield multiple times. As Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were about to complete the race, both of the wrecked cars went down the steep banking and slid into the infield grass near the exit of turn 4. All other drivers were able to make it past them without incident. After both cars came to a stop on the infield, Schrader climbed out of his car uninjured and went to check on Earnhardt. Earnhardt's window net was still up, and Schrader pulled it down himself, then frantically signaled for paramedics who were just arriving at the crash site. That day, and in retellings of the events, Schrader described what he saw in indirect terms: "We've got bigger problems. Look, I'm not a doctor, I'm telling you it don't look good." His brief interview after being released from the mandatory trip to the infield care center was likely the first indication to most observers that the situation was serious. Only shortly after the 10-year anniversary when asked about it, did Schrader finally say, "Here's the deal. When I went up to the car ... I knew. I knew he was dead, yeah. ... I didn't want to be the one who said 'Dale is dead.'"


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Race officials threw the checkered flag and the yellow simultaneously as the front-runners crossed the finish line, aware only that a crash had occurred behind the finishers. Waltrip won the race, with Earnhardt Jr. finishing second behind him. Rusty Wallace finished third (after taking damage in the lap 173 crash), Ricky Rudd finished fourth, polesitter Bill Elliott finished fifth, Wallace's brother Mike finished sixth, Marlin finished seventh, Bobby Hamilton finished eighth, Jeremy Mayfield finished ninth, and outside polesitter Stacy Compton finished 10th. Joe Nemechek finished 11th. Earnhardt and Schrader were credited finishing 12th and 13th despite not completing the final lap (only 11 cars – Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. included – finished on the lead lap as a result of the long green flag runs and the lap 173 crash). Afterwards, Earnhardt Jr. rushed to his father's location.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: As per NASCAR rules, any driver involved in a crash and unable to drive back to the pits or who must be extricated from their car must report to the infield hospital. However, in severe cases, the driver may be sent directly to the emergency trauma room at the hospital near the circuit. Earnhardt was extricated from his car by Daytona's safety teams and was taken by ambulance to Halifax Medical Center which was two miles from the Speedway. He was pronounced dead on arrival at 5:16 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (22:16 UTC). The official cause of Earnhardt's death was given by the Volusia County medical examiner's office as blunt force trauma to his head among other injuries due to the incident. He also sustained a fatal basilar skull fracture on impact.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Less than two hours after the accident, NASCAR president Mike Helton announced Earnhardt's death. A later investigation revealed that Earnhardt's car struck the concrete retaining wall at a heading angle (angle of the vehicle measured from the wall face to the center-line of the car at point of impact) of between 55–59°, combined with a trajectory angle of 13.6° (path of vehicle approaching the wall) and an estimated speed between . Earnhardt experienced a crash impulse of approximately 80 milliseconds in duration. The result of the wall impact and the impact from Schrader's car combined to yield a change in velocity of approximately . The force exerted was equivalent to a vertical drop from a height of . Later sled testing of an exemplar vehicle yielded g-forces ranging from −68 to −48 g, variation dependent on method of measurement.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Earnhardt's death triggered widespread media attention. One newspaper called the day "Black Sunday". Devastated fans congregated at the headquarters of Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. the night of the crash and at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt was featured in the following week's "Time" magazine, and a video from the race was played on nearly every major television channel in the United States.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Earnhardt's public funeral service was held on February 22, 2001, at the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. His death led both to a police investigation and NASCAR-sanctioned investigation. In a reversal of previous NASCAR policy, nearly every detail of the investigation was made public.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Days after the crash, Sterling Marlin received hate mail and death threats from fans who blamed him for Earnhardt's death. Dale Earnhardt Jr. absolved Marlin of responsibility and asked everyone who loved his father to stop assigning blame for his death. On February 20, Marlin announced to the world about his responsibility:


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: In the week following the accident, Bill Simpson, whose company Simpson Performance Products made the seatbelt Earnhardt wore during the race, reported that he had also received death threats from angry fans. When asked about this, Darrell Waltrip stated that "NASCAR is an emotion sport and that all the fans love their drivers, so when something like this happens, the connection to these racers makes you want to blame somebody and that somebody had to be involved and unfortunately, the blame was placed in the wrong place here".


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Brad Keselowski later compared Earnhardt's death to that of Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna. Keselowski, who was 10 years old when Senna died in a crash on Lap 7 of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, said, "For me personally it (Senna's death) reminded me a lot of when Dale Earnhardt died in the sense of the kind of general mood and atmosphere within my own family's household. My dad and brother used to wake up early and watch the Formula One races and I was only nine or 10 years old but I can remember my dad was a big Senna fan, and I can remember that he was never really a loud cheerleader type but I can remember him being more so of that than anything else I have ever seen, which was always unique to me. I just remember the somber tone in the household." The Winston Select 500 took place at Talladega on the same day of the Grand Prix, and when Earnhardt won, he had paid tribute to Senna from Victory Lane.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Team owner Richard Childress made a public pledge that a black car with a GM Goodwrench sponsorship would no longer use the number 3, honoring the color scheme and sponsor that Earnhardt had driven with since 1988. Given the No. 3 team's 12th-place finish in the race, 2000 season status as second in owner points, and presence on the Winner's Circle bonus program, Childress requested (and NASCAR approved) the team to be renumbered to 29, which was the first number available in order without a 3 in it (13 and 23 were open at that time). The renumbered team retained the same sponsor, although the car was adorned with an inverted color scheme—a white body with black numerals and a black stripe on the bottom—for races at Rockingham and Las Vegas. The team kept all bonuses earned as the No. 3 team in 2000 and the Daytona 500. For the race at Atlanta, a new GM Goodwrench Service Plus paint-scheme was introduced, along with angled red stripes and a thin blue pinstripe resembling the AC Delco-sponsored Chevrolets driven in the Busch Series. From 2003 to 2006, when the GM Goodwrench Service Plus sponsorship came to an end, the No. 29 car was painted in black and silver, bearing a resemblance to the No. 3. From 2001 - 2013, a small No. 3 decal was placed alongside the No. 29 in Earnhardt's memory and the team's legacy. On December 11, 2013, RCR announced that the No. 3 car would return to the Cup Series for Childress' grandson, Austin Dillon.


title: Death of Dale Earnhardt

text: Childress's second-year Busch Series driver Kevin Harvick was tapped to replace Earnhardt beginning with the first race after his death—the Dura Lube 400, held at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. Hats bearing the No. 3 logo were distributed to everyone at the track in Earnhardt's memory. Initially, the Childress team wore blank uniforms out of respect but as Harvick's performance improved, the regular GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms returned with the team scoring a Top 10 finish by the next race in Las Vegas, and winning the next week in Atlanta. Jeff Gordon, the polesitter for Dura Lube 400, gave a missing man formation during the pace laps. This was a custom used in motorsports for mourning. Steve Park would win that race, but felt emotional in Victory Lane.