Great horned owl Bubo virginianus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 20 inches Wingspan: 55 inches
• Sexes similar
• Very large owl with prominent ear tufts
• Yellow eyes and dark bill
• Upperparts mottled brown, gray, and black
• Pale underparts with fine brown bars
• Reddish-brown facial disks bordered by black with a lower border of white
• White throat patch
• Pale gray form inhabits northern Canada

Similar species:

Only the Long-eared Owl shares the red facial disks and prominent ear tufts, but is much smaller and slenderer, is barred and streaked on the belly, lacks the white throat, and has its ear tufts set closer together.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.