Connecticut Audubon Society

Living With Nature: Owls
By Cathy O’Donnell, Director, Marketing Communications
This article originally appeared in Connecticut Audubon News, Fall 2002

Just when daylight is waning and the work day is ending, most species of owls are just beginning their work on the night shift under a cloak of darkness. These elusive birds of prey remain something of a mystery to most people. Their nocturnal activities can often be heard (and sometimes under the right conditions, even observed) throughout the night. They remain aloof from most every other creature yet they attract our fascination in ways few other animals do.

By day most owls reside in forests, woodlands, thickets, conifer groves or along marshes and streams camouflaged from sight. Owls will doze during daylight hours while perched against a tree trunk or in a secluded cavity. Just as nightfall comes, they survey the landscape from a high perch and begin their silent flight over a field or other good feeding site, scouting by sound and sight for desirable prey. With wide wings and lightweight bodies, owls are virtually silent in flight. An owl’s anatomy is fashioned for hunting. Their large, wide heads accommodate highly developed, sensitive ears which are aided by flattened facial disks that act as satellite dishes drawing in sound. Their acute hearing often allows them to hear prey before seeing them (they can even detect prey under snow!) Once they latch onto the location of their prey, their eyes lock onto the creature with vision that is 10 to 100 times better than humans in dimming light. Many owls eat their prey whole, then regurgitate the indigestible fur, feathers and bones as compressed masses called pellets which can often be found on the ground beneath an owl’s roost. The size of the pellet is often an indication of the type of species of owl and what their food source was. Some owls will use the same roost tree for several days leaving behind telltale signs of their presence; a trail of “whitewash” on the tree’s branches or trunk and pellets on the ground beneath the tree.

Certain species of owls are seasonal migrators. Most notably, long-eared owls and stunning snowy owls (one the largest owls) cause quite a commotion when they intermittently come southward in mid-winter to Connecticut. Last January, a snowy owl took up residence for brief time at the furthest end of Milford Point near the Coastal Center and was quite a sight to behold. Late fall, winter and early spring are the best months to keep an eye out for owls in forests and woods that adjoin meadows and marshes. Since owls are extremely sensitive to human presence and are very allusive, the best chance to see an owl in the wild is to join an “Owl Prowl”, an evening walk with a Connecticut Audubon teacher naturalist who knows where to go and what to look for when seeking owls.

Here’s a brief summary that can help shed some light on a few of Connecticut’s most common owls.

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
Length: 21” Wingspan: 45”
Habitat: Dense forests and woodlands close to marshes
The most widespread owl species in North America, the large, dark brown great horned owl is a year-round resident of Connecticut. With prominent feathered ear tufts or “horns,” (that have nothing to do with hearing but more with camouflage), the great horned owl is a formidable predator with huge talons. It has the most varied diet of any owl species ranging from crayfish to young fox and is very vocal. The logo for the Connecticut Audubon Society is a great horned owl.

Barred Owl (Strix varia)
Length: 20”
Wingspan: 44”
Habitat: Woodlands and wooded swamps
A large, gray-brown owl with vertical streaks down the front, this secretive bird can be easily flushed from its roost toward visitors. During daylight hours from April through mid-September, it’s not uncommon to hear their call “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”

Eastern Screech Owl (Otis asio)
Length: 8”
Wingspan: 21”
Habitat: Open woodlands and forest clearings
A small owl with two color morphs (red-brown and gray), the screech owl has large feathered ear tufts. These birds got their name because of their mournful, whinny wail in a descending pitch. They respond well to active luring on guided owl walks making them frequently seen on such occasions.

Northern Saw-Whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)
Length: 8”
Wingspan: 19”
Habitat: Forests, conifers and groves
This extremely small, tuftless owl has a head that looks huge in relation to its body and is known to be irresistibly engaging and cute. Its cherub face is edged with fine streaks of white and its temperament is very docile, compared to other owls. In addition to small rodents, the saw-whet owl is known to also hunt insects on the ground and in the air.

More Information on Owls:

How To Spot An Owl
By Patricia & Clay Sutton
Chapters Publishing, Shelburne, VT

Owls: Their Life and Behavior
Text by Julio De La Torre
Photos by Art Wolfe
Crown Publishers, Inc., New York