Long-eared Owl

Long-eared Owl

Other Names

• Búho Chico (Spanish)
• Hibou moyen-duc (French)

Basic Description

Long-eared Owls are lanky owls that often seem to wear a surprised expression thanks to long ear tufts that typically point straight up like exclamation marks. These nocturnal hunters roost in dense foliage, where their camouflage makes them hard to find, and forage over grasslands for small mammals. Long-eared Owls are nimble flyers, with hearing so acute they can snatch prey in complete darkness. In spring and summer, listen for their low, breathy hoots and strange barking calls in the night.

 

Cool Facts:

• The hoot of the male Long-eared Owl can sometimes be heard up to 1 kilometer (0.7 mi) away.
• Like other owls, the Long-eared has a body adapted for silent flight and precision hunting. Flight feathers with fringed edges and downy surfaces mute the sound of the owl’s passage through air. The owls gain incredible hearing from their asymmetrically placed ear openings and large, sound-catching facial disks.
• In 1994, a researcher discovered a nesting Cooper’s Hawk incubating two Long-eared Owl eggs along with three of its own. The hawk had probably usurped the nest from the owl. Another researcher documented three cases of Long-eared Owls appropriating nests that had been recently built by American Crows.
• Long-eared Owls swallow their prey whole and then regurgitate the indigestible parts in pellets, usually one per day. If you find these pellets they’re fascinating to pick through, full of tiny animal bones and fur. Some biologists collect these pellets and use them to learn about owl diets.
• In addition to the North American and Eurasian populations, isolated groups of Long-eared Owls occur in North and East Africa, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. While this owl’s biology has been extensively studied in the U.S. and Europe, little is known about it in other parts of its range.
• The oldest Long-eared Owl on record was at least 12 years, 1 month old. It was originally banded in New York and was later found in Ontario, Canada, in 1999.

Habitat:

Long-eared Owls roost in dense vegetation and forage in open grasslands or shrublands; also open coniferous or deciduous woodlands. They occur at elevations ranging from near sea level to above 6,500 feet. In Idaho, large numbers of Long-eared Owls nest in willows, cottonwoods, and junipers adjacent to shrubsteppe; in several western states these owls also often build their nests in brushy vegetation adjacent to open habitats. In some areas, including in Michigan and western Oregon, Long-eared owl nests are found in coniferous or deciduous forests near open meadows.

 

Food:

Long-eared Owls eat mostly small mammals, including voles, many kinds of mice, kangaroo rats, shrews, pocket gophers, and young rats or rabbits. They hunt over open ground or below the canopy in sparsely forested areas. Prey items usually weigh up to about 3.5 ounces, often less than 2 ounces. They also sometimes eat small birds, capturing them on the ground or (in the case of roosting birds) from low vegetation. Rarely, Long-eared Owls eat moles, bats, weasels, chipmunks, ground and tree squirrels, snakes, and lizards.

 

Behavior:

Long-eared Owls hunt on the wing, coursing back and forth low above open ground. They may also hover over prey, or hunt from perches in strong winds. They kill small mammals with a bite to the back of the skull, and often swallow their prey whole. Nesting Long-eared Owls sometimes form loose colonies, occupying nests as close as 50 feet apart. They may also share nesting areas with American Crows and Black-billed Magpies. Outside of breeding season, the owls roost in groups of up to 100 birds. Older nestlings are called “branchers” because they leave the nest to take up residence in surrounding trees. They move around by jumping, hopping, and pulling themselves up with wings and bill. Long-eared owls usually form monogamous pairs. Bonding probably begins in winter, before communal roosts disband. Courting males make a complex series of calls and perform an aerial, zigzagging display over suitable nesting habitat, with glides and winbgeats interspersed with wing-claps.

 

Data Source: allaboutbirds