Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Currently, there are more than 200 species of owl inhabiting our planet. They reside on every continent save for Antarctica and range in size from the tiny elf owl to the mighty eagle owl. But if there is one species that can truly be said to represent the owl family as a whole, it is most likely the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) of the Americas. It is also called the hoot owl for its telltale call and the tiger owl for its coloration and ferocity.
Here we have the 2018 Mojö Fun great horned owl. This majestic bird of prey is sculpted with its body held horizontally, its head looking directly ahead, and its great, broad wings fully extended in a V-shaped formation. The tail feathers serve as an effective third leg and the toy stands quite well. It measures 6.5 cm long, 7 cm tall at the wingtips, and has a wingspan of 8 cm. The real great horned owl is the heaviest owl in South America and the second heaviest in North America after the snowy owl. Females can average 55 cm in length on average, weigh more than 1600 g, and have a wingspan of up to 1.5 metres.
The owl’s main colour is greyish-brown with light brown and cream for the ventral side. Grey wash is applied to its back and sides in order to highlight the many feathers. The dorsal side of the wings and tail feature white stripes while the ventral side has black stripes. The feet have white plumage and glossy black talons. Finally, the owl’s face is white with a glossy black beak, dark brown tufts, yellow eyes, and medium and very dark brown facial discs. All of these colours have been applied very well indeed and the owl looks quite nice, although I do feel it would have looked even nicer in a richer shade of brown. There are presently 15 described subspecies of great horned owl, but I doubt Mojö Fun was aiming to represent one of them specifically.
The sculpting on this toy is quite comparable to that of the birds from Papo and Safari Ltd. The wings feature distinguishable coverts, primaries, and secondaries, all beautifully defined. The same goes for the head and the body. The beak looks nice and deadly, but the talons look far too small. The Mojö Fun golden eagle I reviewed here previously had the exact same issue. It’s particularly unfortunate considering that the great horned owl is famous for having immense gripping strength in its feet, comparable to a golden eagle’s as it so happens.
Other than that, this toy is very recognizable as a great horned owl, and between its fearsome appearance and active pose, it’s quite fun to play with, whether attacking other bird toys in the air or swooping down on terrestrial animal toys. The great horned owl’s success is owed in large part to its extremely wide diet. It mainly preys on hares, rabbits, and rodents, but it will also take other mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, arthropods, and other birds. Thanks to its poor sense of smell, it is an important predator of skunks. It can take down larger birds like geese and herons, and will even go after other owls and hawks. Indeed, the only owl in its range that it will not attack is the aforementioned snowy owl.
In conclusion then, the Mojö Fun great horned owl is a fine representation of the species and well worth acquiring.
With the aforementioned Safari Ltd. eagle owl and Safari Ltd. red-tailed hawk:
Nicer than I thought from promo pics, but I still prefer Safari’s.