Great Horned Owl Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  These are large, thick-bodied owls with two prominent feathered tufts on the head. The wings are broad and rounded. In flight, the rounded head and short bill combine to create a blunt-headed silhouette.

  Relative Size

  Slightly larger than a Red-tailed Hawk.

  between crow and goose

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 18.1-24.8 in (46-63 cm)
    • Weight: 32.1-88.2 oz (910-2500 g)
    • Wingspan: 39.8-57.1 in (101-145 cm)

  © Jeremiah Trimble / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Great Horned Owls are mottled gray-brown, with reddish brown faces and a neat white patch on the throat. Their overall color tone varies regionally from sooty to pale.

• Behavior

  Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots.
• Habitat

  Look for this widespread owl in woods, particularly young woods interspersed with fields or other open areas. The broad range of habitats they use includes deciduous and evergreen forests, swamps, desert, tundra edges, and tropical rainforest, as well as cities, orchards, suburbs, and parks.

Regional Differences

Great Horned Owls vary in color tone across their range: birds from the Pacific Northwest tend to be dark sooty; individuals across the Southwest are paler and grayer; and birds from subarctic Canada can be almost white.

Regional Photos

© Jeremiah Trimble / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, April 20, 2017

© Isaiah Nugent / Macaulay LibraryWashington, June 26, 2017

© John Bruin / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, September 16, 2017