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| MEASUREMENTS: The Long-eared Owl has a body length of 13 - 16 inches, a wingspan of 3 - 3 1/2 feet, and weighs 8 - 16 ounces. |
 HABITAT: This owl can be found in wooded or dense bushy areas that are adjacent or within open grasslands, shrub lands, marshes, farmlands, or shrub-steppe deserts, across North America, Eurasia, and extreme northern Africa. |
| DIET: Long-eared Owls mainly eat small mammals and some birds. These owls hunt at night flying low over the ground in forest openings and along forest edges. Prey is caught on the ground or from bushy vegetation. |
| REPRODUCTION: This owl will use an abandoned stick nest of another bird or it occasionally nests in cavities in a tree or on a cliff. The female lays 5 - 7 eggs, which are incubated for 26 - 28 days. The young owls leave the nest in 20 - 25 days and begin to fly 35 days after hatching. The young remain with the parents for about 2 months after they fledge. Young birds are able to breed at 1 year of age. |
| NAME DERIVATION: The scientific name comes from the Latin words asio, which was Pliny’s name for “horned” owl, and otus, meaning a kind of owl with long “ear” feathers. The common name refers to the long feather tufts on its head. This owl is also known as Cat Owl, Lesser Horned Owl, and Wilson’s Owl. |
INTERESTING FACTS:
- Like Short-eared Owls, Long-eared Owls often roost in colonies during the non-breeding season.
- The feathered tufts on the top of tufted owls’ heads, like Great Horned Owls, screech-owls, and Long-eared Owls, are not horns or ears, but feathers that are used to communicate and help the bird blend into its surroundings.
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