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Long-eared Owl
(Asio otus)
: "Northern Long-eared Owl"
 German name(s): "Waldohreule"
Size: 31-40 cm; wing span 85-100 cm
Weight: 180-435 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Long-eared Owls are medium-sized owls.
Their plumage is
highly cryptic.
The two sexes are similar, but
males
tend to be on average paler and more heavily streaked than females.
Their most prominent feature is a pair of long, creamy and dark-grey
ear tufts that can be erected vertically.
They have a prominent rufous to creamy facial mask with a black and
white edge. Grey tufts of feathers between the eyes can give the
impression of an "X" when seen from straight in front.
The rest of the front is rufous to buff with heavy grey streaking.
The folded wings are brownish-grey with dark-grey streaks, while
the back is finely speckled dark-grey on lighter grey. The flight
feathers are cinnamon with brownish-grey and dark-grey bars on
the primaries and a dark-grey shoulder patch.
The irises are dark-orange. The bill is dark-grey, legs and feet
are grey.
Fledgling young are off-white to light-grey with light vermiculation,
some grey barring on the wing coverts and buff tints on their
flight feathers. Their most prominent feature is a black facial
mask around eyes with orange irises.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Long-eared
Owl at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Long-eared Owl is available
HERE
.
Long-eared Owls are a strongly migratory species with four recognised
races that populate large parts of Europe, Asia and North America.
The permanent range of nominate race "otus" extends from the
Azores in the Atlantic Ocean via southern and central Europe (up
to 55 degrees, i.e. southern Norway and Sweden in the North) into
subtropical and mid-latitude Asia, as far to the East as eastern
Siberia and most of Japan. There is also a permanent population
in north-western Africa.
During the northern summers they extend their breeding range
northwards to include the southern half of Scandinavia and the
entire breadth of Asia up to a geographic latitude of about 60
degrees.
During the northern winters part of the population move into
western Turkey and the coastal fringe of the Middle East, even
into the lower Nile valley. Another part of the population
spends the winters in northern Pakistan/north-western India
and the far-eastern population winters in eastern China,
Korea and the southern islands of Japan.
Race "canariensis" is found only on the the Canary Islands.
Races "tuftsi" and "wilsonianus" populate large parts of North
America, with race "tuftsi" found in the western half of the
continent, race "wilsonianus" in the East.
For more details see, e.g. Wikipedia .
In Europe and Asia only nominate race
"otus"
is found (see above).
Long-eared Owls have a preference for forest or woodland with
open areas for hunting. They will often be found along the
edges of forest or in copses amongst open areas such as
grassland or farmland.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "otus"
K. Paunovic reports spotting a Long-eared Owl, nominate
race
"otus", near Melenci, Serbia, in July 2016.
J. Pires reports spotting two
Long-eared Owls, race
"otus",
near Mora, Evora, Portugal, in May 2017.
G. Normand found a Long-eared Owl, race
"otus",
at Parc du Sausset, Villepinte, Ils-de-France, France, in January 2021.
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Photos |
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Race "otus"
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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Frontal view of a Long-eared Owl; the pale colouring may suggest
that this is a male (photo courtesy of K. Paunovic)
[Near Melenci, Serbia, July 2016]
Frontal/ventral view of a Long-eared Owl
(photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[Parc du Sausset, Villepinte, Ils-de-France, France, January 2021]
Dorsal/ventral view of a Long-eared Owl; note the
prominent streaking on the belly and the white
trailing edge on the wings as well as the white
terminal band on the tail
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2017]
Long-eared Owls use a stiff, erect, cryptic posture to
avoid detection.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
