Owls are found on all continents except Antarctica. Owls are divided into two families: the typical owls, Strigidae; and the barn-owls, Tytonidae. They range in size from 13-70 cm. Owls do not construct nests, but rather look for a sheltered nesting site or an abandoned nest in trees, underground burrows, or in buildings, barns and caves.
Owls are solitary and nocturnal. They hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds though a few species specialize in hunting fish. Most hunt for prey only in the darkness. Much of the owls' hunting strategy depends on stealth and surprise. They are very quiet in flight plus they have dull colors. Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a hawk-like beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye. The facial disc helps to funnel the sound of prey to their ears. Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets, as with other birds, and they must turn their entire head to change views. Owls can rotate their heads and necks as much as 270 degrees in either direction. The female is usually larger than the male.
Owl species can be found on these web pages:
New World Owls, Old World Owls, Barn Owls, Eagle-Owls, Pygmy-Owls, Scops-Owls
Genus Bubo
The Eagle-Owls are large owls with ear tufts of varying size.
Owl,_Akun_Eagle- Bubo leucostictus Found: Africa
Image by: 1) ZorroIII 2) Nik_Borrow - Ghana
Owl,_Barred Eagle- Bubo sumatranus Found: southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia
The Barred Eagle-Owl has dark upperparts with faint barring; light underparts with dark barring; dark eyes.
Similar to: Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl. Barred Eagle-Owl has continuous bars on the underparts; Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl has separate black marks that do not form bars.
Image by: 1) Arthur Chapman 2) Brandom Lim 3) Burung Hantu Jalur - MalaysiaSimilar to: Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl. Barred Eagle-Owl has continuous bars on the underparts; Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl has separate black marks that do not form bars.
Owl, Cape Eagle- Bubo capensis Found: Africa
The Cape Eagle-Owl has dark brown upperparts; pale chest with black and tawny barring; brown face with darker border; yellow or yellowish-orange eyes; prominent ear tufts.
Image by: 1) Martin Heigan 2, 5)
Arno Meintjes 3, 4) Dick Daniels - World of Birds, South Africa 
Owl,_Dusky Eagle- Bubo coromandus Found: Asia
The Dusky Eagle-Owl has dusky-gray upperparts; light underparts; dark face; light front of bill.
Image by: 1) Koshy Koshy 2) Dan Hutcheson
Owl, Eurasian Eagle- Bubo bubo Found: Europe, Asia
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl may have brown-black to tawny-buff to pale creamy-gray upperparts depending on the subspecies; frecking on forehead, crown; stripes on neck; tawny-buff facial disk; ear tufts; orange eyes; white chin, throat; black bill, feet.
Similar to: Blakiston's Fish-Owl. Blakiston's Fish-Owl has yellow eyes; Eurasian Eagle-Owl has orange eyes.
Similar to: Great Horned Owl. Range does not overlap.
Similar to: Long-eared Owl. Eurasian Eagle Owl much bigger than Long-eared Owl. Eurasian Eagle has proportionally larger head and chest.
Similar to: Rock Eagle-Owl, The Rock Eagle-Owl has a white facial disk; Eurasian Eagle-Owl has tawny-buff facial disk.
Image by: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Dick Daniels - Carolina Raptor Center 6) Dick - World of Birds
, South Africa 7) Charlie Westerinen - Salt Lake City Zoo 8) Leo_ReynoldsSimilar to: Blakiston's Fish-Owl. Blakiston's Fish-Owl has yellow eyes; Eurasian Eagle-Owl has orange eyes.
Similar to: Great Horned Owl. Range does not overlap.
Similar to: Long-eared Owl. Eurasian Eagle Owl much bigger than Long-eared Owl. Eurasian Eagle has proportionally larger head and chest.
Similar to: Rock Eagle-Owl, The Rock Eagle-Owl has a white facial disk; Eurasian Eagle-Owl has tawny-buff facial disk.
6) Turkmenian Eagle Owl (Bubo Bubo turcomanus)
Owl,_Fraser's Eagle- Bubo poensis Found: Africa
The Fraser's Eagle-Owl has rufous and buffy brown upperparts barred with darker bars; pale rufous underparts shading to whitish on belly; barred underparts.
Image by:
1) Joseph Wolf 2) Ross Tsai 3) Nik_Borrow - Ghana
Owl,_Grayish Eagle- or Vermiculated Eagle-Owl Bubo cinerascens Found: northern part of Sub Saharan Africa
The Grayish Eagle-Owl has brown, buff, and white upperparts; vermiculated (finely barred) grayish-brown underparts; brownish facial disk; brown eyes.
Image by: 1) Dragus 2) Ron Knight 3) Nik_Borrow - Ghana
Owl,_Great Horned Bubo virginianus Found: North America, South America
The Great Horned Owl has mottled brown upperparts; light underparts with brown barring; large head; reddish, brown, or gray facial disk; white throat patch; yellow eyes.
Similar to: Eurasian Eagle Owl. Range does not overlap.
Similar to: Long-eared Owl. Great Horned Owl much bigger than Long-eared Owl. Great Horned Owl has proportionally larger head and chest.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Dick Daniels - Carolina Raptor Center 4) Dick -
Brookfield Gardens, South Carolina 5, 6) Dick - Sunset Beach, NC 7) Dave Pape 8) Art Siegel - San Francisco 9) Brendan LallySimilar to: Eurasian Eagle Owl. Range does not overlap.
Similar to: Long-eared Owl. Great Horned Owl much bigger than Long-eared Owl. Great Horned Owl has proportionally larger head and chest.
1 - 6) Eastern 7) South American 8) Pacific 9) Northwest
Owl,_Pharaoh_Eagle- Bubo ascalaphus Found: Africa
The Pharaoh Eagle-Owl has mottled tawny upperparts, head; creamy-white underparts with black streaks on upper-breast and reddish-brown vermiculations on lower-breast and belly; facial disk bordered by black rim; small ear tuffs.
Image by: 1) Biodiversity_Heritage_Library 2) Tanaka Juuyoh 3) David Hofmann - Saudi Arabia
Owl._Philippine_Eagle- Bubo philippensis Found: the Philippines
The Philippine Eagle-Owl has dark rufous upperparts; rufous upper-beast with dark stripes; whitish lower-breast and belly with some dark stripes; yellow eyes
Image by: 1) Ricky Artigas 2) Raymund_James_Bare
Owl,_Rock Eagle- also Bengal Eagle Owl also Indian Owl Bubo bengalensis Found: Indian Subcontinent
The Rock Eagle-Owl has a white facial disk with black border; vertical black lines above yellow eyes; ear tufts.
Similar to: Eurasian Eagle-Owl, The Rock Eagle-Owl has a white facial disk; Eurasian Eagle-Owl has tawny-buff facial disk.
Image by: 1) Nuno Barrelo 2) David Merrett 3) Dick Daniels - World of Birds, South Africa 4) Tarique Sani - IndiaSimilar to: Eurasian Eagle-Owl, The Rock Eagle-Owl has a white facial disk; Eurasian Eagle-Owl has tawny-buff facial disk.
Owl,_Shelley's Eagle- Bubo shelleyi Found: central and western Africa
The Shelley's Eagle Owl has dark brown upperparts with faint barring; whitish underparts with dark barring; dark brown eyes; barred tail.
Image by:
1) John Gerrard Keulemans 2) Nolafryar
Owl,_Snowy Bubo scandiacus (formerly in genus Nyctea) Found: North America, Europe, Asia
The Snowy Owl has yellow eyes; dark bill. The male is almost entirely pure white. Females and juveniles have dark scalloping on the white background.
Image by: 1) Tony Hisgett 2) Dan Langer - New Hampshire 3)
Elaine R. Wilson - Quebec 4, 5) Dick Daniels - Anchorage Zoo, Alaska 6) Tony Hisgett - England 7) David_Syzdek - British Columbia
1) Female and chick
Owl,_Spot-bellied Eagle- Bubo nipalensis Found: Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia
The Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl has dark brown upperparts; whitish underparts with black marks (hence the name); brownish-white cheeks; large ear tufts that slant to the side.
Similar to: Barred Eagle-Owl. Barred Eagle-Owl has continuous bars on the underparts; Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl has separate black marks that do not form bars.
Image by: 1) N.A._Nazeer 2) Dinesh Kannambadi Similar to: Barred Eagle-Owl. Barred Eagle-Owl has continuous bars on the underparts; Spot-bellied Eagle-Owl has separate black marks that do not form bars.
Owl,_Spotted Eagle- Bubo africanus Found: Africa
The Spotted Eagle-Owl has brown upperparts with white spots; off white underparts with brown bars; light colored facial disk with dark edge; yellow eyes; prominent ear tufts.
Image by: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Dick Daniels - Radical Raptors, South Africa 6) Joseph Mochoge - Kenya 7) Nik_Borrow - Kenya
Owl,_Usambara_Eagle- Bubo vosseleri Found: Tanzania
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow 2) Peter_Stubbs
Owl,_Verreaux's Eagle Bubo lacteus Found: Africa
Verreaux's Eagle-Owl has brownish-gray upperparts with light vermiculations; lighter underparts; white spots on shoulders; light facial disk with thick black border; pink eyelids; small ear tufts; light front of bill.
Image by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo 3) Dick - World
of Birds,
South Africa 4, 5) Dick - Keekorok Lodge in the Masai Mara, Kenya
