WW: Great horned owl tail feather

(I found this great horned owl [Bubo virginianus] tailfeather on the trail a few weeks ago. Note its frayed tip in the close-up below. Flight feathers of all members of Order Strigiformes – the owls – have this kind of tip, which softens their passage through the air, resulting in their owners' famously silent flight.

Great horned owls are native to the Americas, where they are present through virtually all of subarctic North America and a great swath of South America. Here on the North Pacific coast, their classic call – "Who died today? Who? Who?" – is a common feature of the night.)