This display makes her appear 2 to 3 times as large as she really is. They also perform a distraction display near nests, where the Owl pretends to capture prey, or feign injury, and flop away from the nest on the ground making various noises. They will occasionally attack viciously, aiming the talons at the face and throat of the intruder. Old nests are lined with bark strips, feathers, leaves, and moss before eggs are laid. Clutch sizes range from 3 to 8 eggs, with an average of 4 to 5 eggs.
Clutch sizes tend to increase from south to north and from east to west.
Eggs are laid irregularly every 1 to 5 days and incubation begins with the first egg laid, so that a clutch of 6 eggs may hatch over a period of 10 to 12 days. The female performs most of the incubation but the male may incubate for short intervals while the female hunts. The incubation period is 25 to 30 days. Nestlings begin to walk out of the nest onto nearby branches at about 3 weeks, but are not capable of flight until about 5 weeks. Young become independent from parents at about 2 months.