Great Horned Owl
(Bubo virginianus)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | LC - Least Concern |
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| NatureServe | N5 - Secure SNR - Unranked |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Size |
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18″ to 25″ in length 36″ to 60″ wingspan |
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Voice |
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Similar Species |
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Habitat |
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Fragmented forests, riparian woodlands, landfills. |
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Ecology |
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Migration |
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Nesting |
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Food |
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Distribution |
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Occurrence |
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Common year-round resident |
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Maps |
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The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map |
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Taxonomy |
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| Class | Aves (birds) | ||
Order |
Strigiformes (owls) | ||
Family |
Strigidae (typical owls) | ||
Subfamily |
Striginae | ||
Genus |
Bubo (eagle-owls and horned owls) |
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Subordinate Taxa |
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Baja California Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus elachistus) Californian Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus pacificus) Coastal Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus saturatus) Desert Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus pallescens) Eastern Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus virginianus) North Andean Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus nigrescens) Northeastern Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus heterocnemis) Northern Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus subarcticus) Oaxaca Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus mesembrinus) Rocky Mountains Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus pinorum) South American Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus nacurutu) Yucatán Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus mayensis) |
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Synonyms |
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Visitor Photos |
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Share your photo of this bird. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption. |
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Molly and Robert Power |
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Photo taken through binoculars, but we were still amazed to see this owl in our yard, and during the day! |
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Ramona Abrego |
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Captive owls – Wildlife Science Center |
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Lynn Rubey |
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A Great Horned Owl flying up the river in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge as I was up on the granite outcropping. |
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A Great Horned Owl landing on a log. Mostly nocturnal but may hunt during the day. |
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Bill Reynolds |
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The Owl feed good winter on my Guineas, since getting a guard dog, I've only lost one turkey the owls. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Captive Owl |
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Slideshows |
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| Great Horned Owl Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren |
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| Great Horned Owl JMC Nature Photos |
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| Rescuing a Baby Great Horned Owl Joshua Mayer |
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About
I found this baby Great Horned Owl near my house last week and took it in to the emergency vet clinic. It had fallen out of its nest and was very dehydrated but is now doing well. They came back today to try and find the nest, but couldn't locate it. Instead, this little guy will now be fostered by another owl and eventually released back into the wild. |
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| Great Horned Owl Night Shots Craig A. Mullenbach |
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About
I was fiddling around trying to take star photos and I noticed this guy in the tree. Check out the "more properties" of these photos to see how long the exposures were. Unfortunately, he wouldn't sit still while I had the shutter open. I also had a hard time focusing because I couldn't see him well in the view finder. These are the three best shots of about 20 attempts. |
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| Great Horned Owl Eating a Mouse Craig A. Mullenbach |
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About
Click on the Slideshow Icon towards the top right. You'll get a full screen view of the Owl eating her mouse. The handler from the University of Minnesota Raptor Center gave this gal a whole mouse to eat. It was already dead so we didn't see any killing.... Mully410 Critical Blog |
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Visitor Videos |
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Share your video of this bird. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
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Other Videos |
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| Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) yohazy |
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About
Published on Mar 2, 2013 This is a Male and Female Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) preparing for their little nesting of baby owlets. The nest once belong to Ravens as where the Owls dominate and take over the nest Great Horned Owls are also called Tiger Owls. |
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| Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) preening Stoil Ivanov |
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About
Published on Apr 13, 2013 Great Horned Owl, (Bubo virginianus) preening and keeping an eye on its chick. Filmed on 4-07-2013 at Fabyan Forest Preserve Geneva, IL. |
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| Great Horned Owl (Strigidae: Bubo virginianus) in Spruce Tree Carl Barrentine |
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About
Uploaded on Apr 1, 2011 Photographed at Grand Forks, North Dakota (01 April 2011). |
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Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this bird. |
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| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
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| Molly and Robert Power 1/16/2021 |
Location: Albany MN Photo taken through binoculars, but we were still amazed to see this owl in our yard, and during the day! |
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| Ramona Abrego | Location: Forest Lake Captive owls – Wildlife Science Center |
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| Lynn Rubey 10/28/2019 |
Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge A Great Horned Owl landing on a log. Mostly nocturnal but may hunt during the day. |
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| John Wynn 12/18/2017 |
Location: 8784 Springwood Drive, Woodbury, MN, Washington County there is a pair of owls calling back and forth at night. Heard them, and then observed one of them on top of our neighbors roof at midnight tonight. Have been hearing their calls for a couple of years, but this is the first time I’ve seen one of them. We have a large rabbit population in the neighborhood so hopefully they are helping control it |
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| Bill Reynolds 2/18/2012 |
Location: Pennington Co. The Owl feed good winter on my Guineas, since getting a guard dog, I've only lost one turkey the owls. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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