Long-eared owl Asio otus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 13 inches Wingspan: 39 inches
• Large, nocturnal, predatory bird
• Large, rounded head with long ear tufts
• Yellow eyes
• Rusty facial disks
• Gray-brown upperparts with small black and white markings
• White underparts with black cross-shaped markings
• Sexes similar
• Often roosts in dense conifers

Similar species:

The Long-eared Owl is similar to the Great Horned Owl but has cross-shaped, not barred, markings on the underparts and is smaller. Other species of similarly-sized owls lack large ear tufts.

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