Short-eared Owl Lives: In western and northeast Oregon. Asio flammeus Fun Fact: This owl’s call sounds like, “Who cooks The Short-eared Owl can be for you? Who cooks for you all?” seen late in the day, flying over open grass fields or wetlands in search of a meal. It has small What kids “ear” tufts and is quite the aerial acrobat. It can hover can do to over its prey before pouncing. help Lives: In the Willamette Valley and owls East of the Cascades. Fun Fact: Short-eared owls nest on the ground 1. Listen to owl calls on the Internet and learn to under grass or shrubs. identify their sounds. Listen for them at night— spring and fall are good times. Boreal Owl Aegolius funereus 2. Never pick up owlets (young owls). They can In Oregon, these small shy spend days to several weeks on the ground brown owls with square faces while learning to fly. Their parents care for live in remote, old mountain them until they can fly. forests often above 5,000 3. Some owls will lay eggs and raise their young feet. They hunt at night from a in nest boxes. Do some research and see what owls live in your area and which might perch in a tree. use a nest box or owl platform. Lives: Rare in Northeast Oregon. Fun Fact: The Boreal owl is named for the winged 4. Read about owls in the news and think about Greek god of the north wind, Boreas. why they are in the news. 5. Do a research report on one of Oregon’s owls Northern to learn about their habitats and threats to Saw-whet Owl their survival. Aegolius acadicus Owls in need of conservation This small forest owl The flammulated, short-eared, northern spotted, is brown or reddish in western burrowing and great gray owls are Oregon color, has white spots Conservation Strategy species of conservation and excellent hearing. It roosts (perches) in dense concern. The northern spotted owl is listed as trees and uses cavities made by woodpeckers to nest. threatened under both the federal and state Endangered Species acts. Visit the Conservation Lives: Throughout Oregon except the southeast. Section of ODFW’s website to learn more. Fun Fact: Owls have large eyes so they can see Photos: Barn owl, Wikipedia; Flammulated owl, Kathy Munsel, in dim light. While they can’t move their eyes up, ODFW; Western screech-owl, Willis Peterson, National Park down or sideways, they can rotate their heads Service; Great horned owl, Kathy Munsel, ODFW; Snowy owl, pe_ha45, Wikipedia; Northern pygmy, USFWS; Burrowing owl, There are 14 species of owls in Oregon. to owls hooting, screeching and calling 270 degrees! Cathy Nowak, ODFW; Northern Spotted owl, Kris Hennings, USFS; Barred Owl: A Range Expander Great gray owl, Nadine Hergenrider, USFS; Long-eared owl, Five of them are listed in the Oregon after dark or early in the morning. Mindaugas Urbonas, Wikipedia; Short-eared owl, Nick Myatt, Strix varia ODFW; Boreal owl, MDF, Wikipedia; Saw-whet owl, Kameron Conservation Strategy as species in Interestingly, owls do not build nests; Historically, the Barred Owl lived Perensovich; Barred owl, MDF, Wikipedia. need of conservation help. Most owls instead they use tree cavities, nests only in the eastern U.S., but its are nocturnal, hunting created by other Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife range has expanded into the for insects, fish, frogs, species, naturally west. It is a large owl with brown 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE the and white feathers and stripes on Salem, OR 97302 birds, mice and other OREGON occurring structures its chest and throat. It is believed (503) 947-6000 or man-made [email protected] small mammals in the CONSERVATION to be a serious competitor to www.odfw.com night. It’s fun to listen nest platforms. native spotted owls. STRATEGY Oregon’s Whooooo-rific Owls Barn Owl Lives: Throughout Oregon. Lives: Throughout the state except the southeast. Great Gray Owl Tyto alba Fun Fact: These owls will nest in suburbs and cities in Fun Fact: These owls are primarily diurnal (active Strix nebulosa Barn Owls have heart- large trees, nest boxes and other structures. during the day) and are fierce hunters able to catch Great Gray Owls have large heads and shaped faces, dark eyes Great Horned Owl songbirds at feeders. yellow eyes and are uncommon in Oregon. They and white to tan feathers Bubo virginianus Western live in older forests with small spots. They often The Great Horned Owl is Burrowing Owl and are year-round make nests in barns and hay large and powerful with Athene cunicularia residents. They nest stacks. Some people help yellow eyes and strong This small, long- on broken tree barn owls by building nest talons (claws) that help legged owl is tops or man-made boxes. They have excellent it prey on mammals and the only North platforms, but prefer hearing and can find their prey in total darkness. birds larger than itself. It American owl that using nests made by Lives: West of the Cascade Mountains. East of the gets its name from the nests underground. other raptors. Cascades, it prefers agricultural areas. tufts of feathers above its eyes that look like horns. It is It uses abandoned Lives: Northeast Fun Fact: Lacking teeth, owls eat their prey a year-round resident and is often heard calling dens dug by Oregon and the whole, coughing up balls of fur and bones called at night. squirrels, prairie dogs and badgers in grasslands central to south pellets, which can be found under trees. Students Lives: Throughout Oregon. and sagebrush. In winter, it migrates as far as Cascades and dissect pellets to see if they can identify what an Fun Fact: Owls have lightweight bodies, soft fluffy Central America. Siskiyou mountains. owl had for dinner. feathers and a wing structure that allows them to Lives: The Columbia River Basin and Fun Fact: These owls will plunge Flammulated Owl fly silently. southeast Oregon. Fun Fact: This owl is active day and night and through the snow Psiloscops flammeolus Snowy Owl to catch small usually nests in The petite Flammulated Bubo scandiacus mammals; their amazing hearing lets them pinpoint Owl is brown or reddish with Snowy Owls, the largest owls in small groups. their prey’s location. dark eyes and small “ears.” North America by weight, live in Northern It weighs less than two and the arctic and are only irregular Spotted Owl Long-eared Owl a half ounces and lives in visitors to Oregon. Every few Strix occidentalis Asio otus mountainous conifer forests, years, a number of them are This medium- Long-eared Owls nesting in tree cavities seen here in the winter. These sized, brown owl are named for the made by woodpeckers. Crickets, moths and visits may be due to periodic has brown eyes “ears” or feather tufts beetles make up its diet. In winter, it migrates to crashes in the population of their and white spots above their eyes. Mexico and Central America. primary prey, lemmings. They on its head and They nest in dense Lives: East of the Cascade Mountains. hunt primarily in the daytime. chest. It lives trees but hunt in the Fun Fact: An owl’s “ears” are the tufts of feathers in older forests open. In October, Lives: In the arctic. above its eyes. with a variety of some migrate to Fun Fact: Drawings of snowy owls have been found trees, snags and southern climates. Western Screech-Owl in prehistoric caves. downed logs of different sizes, and good canopy They are uncommon Megascops kennicottii Northern Pygmy Owl closure. It does not migrate in winter. In 1990, the in Oregon. Western Screech Owls are Glaucidium gnoma spotted owl in Oregon was listed as threatened camouflaged—their gray This is Oregon’s smallest owl— under the Federal Endangered Species Act. or brown streaked feathers Lives: East of the Cascades. about the size of a sparrow. It blend into a tree’s bark. Lives: Western Oregon and on the east slope Fun Fact: These owls hunt “on the wing” by using lives in forests, has yellow eyes They have yellow eyes and of Cascades. their acute hearing to detect prey. and brown to gray feathers with are common in woodlands Fun Fact: This owl can live up to 15 years in white spots. Two black spots on and forests. the wild. the back of its head are shaped like eyes, confusing predators.