Great Gray Owl

Strix nebulosaOrder: STRIGIFORMES Family: True Owls (Strigidae)

Codes: Common Name: GGOW Scientific Name: STRNEB ITIS Taxonomic No.: 177929

Breeding Location:

Open landscapes, Marshes, freshwater, Forest

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Rare to uncommon

Egg Color:

White

Number of Eggs:

2 - 5

Incubation Days:

28 - 36

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Abandoned nests.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

General

Great Gray Owl: Very large owl with dark gray body interspersed with bars and flecks of brown, pale gray, and white. Head is large and without ear tufts. Eyes are yellow and relatively small. Bulky appearance when perching is due to dense, fluffy plumage, long wings extending past body, and relatively long tail. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Great Gray Owl: Found from Alaska across Canada, down the northern Rocky Mountains, and in northern Minnesota; also in northern Europe and Asia. Preferred habitats include stunted coniferous forests along the edge of the Arctic treeline and mixed or coniferous forests.

Breeding and Nesting

Great Gray Owl: Two to five white eggs are laid in an abandoned stick nest made by hawks, ravens, or crows. Female incubates eggs for 28 to 29 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Great Gray Owl: Feeds primarily on small rodents such as voles and pocket gophers; also consumes shrews and birds. Hunts from a perch, from which it locates prey with its keen sense of hearing.

Vocalization

Great Gray Owl: Call is a bold, deep, booming, "whooooo, woo, woo, wo"; also utters single-note hoots.

Similar Species

Great Gray Owl: Barred Owl is smaller, has brown eyes, and is brown and white overall.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Great Gray Owl

Great Gray Owl: Large owl, dark gray body interspersed with bars and flecks of brown, pale gray, and white. Head is large and without ear tufts. Yellow eyes are relatively small. Bulky appearance when perching due to dense, fluffy plumage, long wings extending past body, and relatively long tail.

● Song: "whooooooo-woo-wo", "hoot"

● Foraging & Feeding: Great Gray Owl: Feeds primarily on small rodents such as voles and pocket gophers; also consumes shrews and birds. Hunts from a perch, from which it locates prey with its keen sense of hearing.

● Breeding & nesting: Great Gray Owl: Two to five white eggs are laid in an abandoned stick nest made by hawks, ravens, or crows. Female incubates eggs for 28 to 29 days.

● Similar species: Great Gray Owl: Barred Owl is smaller, has brown eyes, and is brown and white overall.

Flight Pattern

Silent direct flight., Quick, deep wing strokes., Several powerful wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Great Gray Owl: Found from Alaska across Canada, down the northern Rocky Mountains, and in northern Minnesota; also in northern Europe and Asia. Preferred habitats include stunted coniferous forests along the edge of the Arctic treeline and mixed or coniferous forests.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationRare to uncommon

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight27.2 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Great Gray Owl

Breeding Location:

Breeding Type:

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Nest Material:

Migration:

Recommended Products:

General

Range and Habitat

Breeding and Nesting

Foraging and Feeding

Vocalization

Similar Species

Great Gray Owl

Flight Pattern