The Spotted Wood Owl is a richly colored medium-sized owl with a large rounded head, no ear-tufts and dark eyes. Its range is strangely disjunct; it occurs in many regions surrounding Borneo, but not on that island itself. The facial disc is orange-buff. Eyes are dark brown, bill is greyish to greenish-black, and cere is greenish-black. The head is chocolate-brown with feathers that have golden bases and white spots with black edges that become bar-shaped on the nape. The upperparts are overall rufous chocolate-brown, profusely spotted with black-edged white spots. The mantle, back and uppertail-coverts are paler chocolate-brown, with black-margined white […]

Screech owls or screech-owls are typical owls (Strigidae) belonging to the genus Megascops. Twenty-one living species are known at present, but new ones are frequently recognized and unknown ones are still being discovered on a regular basis, especially in the Andes. For most of the 20th century, this genus was merged with the Old World scops owls in Otus, but nowadays it is again considered separate based on a range of behavioral, biogeographical, morphological and DNA sequence data. Screech owls are restricted to the Americas. Some species formerly placed with them are nowadays considered more distinct (see below for details). […]

The Northern Saw-whet Owl may have been named for giving a call that sounds like a saw being sharpened on a whetting stone, but there is no consensus as to which of its several calls gave rise to the name. The northern saw-whet owl makes a repeated tooting whistle sound. Some say they sound like a saw being sharpened on a whetstone. They usually make these sounds to find a mate, so they can be heard more often April through June when they are looking for mates. Despite being more common in spring, they do vocalize year round. Their habitat […]

The Burrowing Owl appears to be diurnal because it can often be seen foraging during the day. In fact, it hunts all day and night long and is most active in the morning and evening. It catches more insects during the day and more mammals at night. Unlike most owls in which the female is larger than the male, the sexes of the Burrowing Owl are the same size. The Burrowing Owl collects mammal dung and puts it in and around its burrow. The dung attracts dung beetles, which the owl then captures and eats. They nest and roost in […]

The long-eared owl is a medium-sized owl, 31–40 cm (12–16 in) in length with an 86–100 cm (34–39 in) wingspan and a body mass of 178–435 g (6.3–15.3 oz). It has erect blackish ear-tufts, which are positioned in the center of the head. The ear-tufts are used to make the owl appear larger to other owls while perched. The female is larger in size and darker in coloration than the male. The long-eared owl’s brownish feathers are vertically streaked. Tarsus and toes are entirely feathered. Eye disks are also characteristic in this species. However, the eye disks of A. otus […]

The barn owl (Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as the common barn owl, to distinguish it from other species in its family, Tytonidae, which forms one of the two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical owls (Strigidae). The barn owl is found almost everywhere in the world except polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalayas, most of Indonesia and some Pacific islands.[2] Phylogenetic evidence shows that there are at least three major lineages of barn […]

The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), also known as the tiger owl or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas.It is a fierce predator that can take large prey, including raptors like Ospreys and other falcons.  Great Horned Owl has excellent night vision and flies very quietly in pursuit of prey. The great horned owl is generally colored for camouflage. The underparts of the species are usually light with some brown horizontal barring; the upper parts and upper wings are generally a mottled brown usually bearing heavy, complex darker markings. All subspecies are darkly barred to […]

The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is a species of typical owl (family Strigidae). Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These “ear” tufts may or may not be visible. Asio flammeus will display its tufts when in a defensive pose, although its very short tufts are usually not visible. The short-eared owl is found in open country and grasslands. The scientific name is from Latin. The genus name Asio is a type of eared owl, and flammeus means “flame-coloured”. The short-eared owl is a medium-sized owl measuring […]