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 Athene
These are small brown owls with white speckles; yellow eyes; white supercilium.
They are found mainly in the Old World. The Burrowing Owl is found in the Americas.
Owl,_Burrowing Athene cunicularia Found: The Americas
Image by:
1, 2) Alan
D Wilson - Farm Road Off SR17, Near Othello, Washington
3)
Mauricio Mercer - Brazil 4)
Cristiano Crolle - Las Gaviotas, Argentina 5)
Dick Daniels -
Center for Birds of Prey, Charleston, South Carolina 6)
Dick - San Diego Zoo
1) Adult with fledglings 2) Juvenile
Owl,_Little Athene noctua Found: Europe, Asia, Africa Introduced: South Island, New Zealand
Image by: 1)
Drew Avery 2)
Trebol-a 3)
Phil McIver - England
Owlet,_Forest Athene blewitti Found: forests of central India
Image by: 1)
Tarique Sani 2)
Raju Kasambe
Owlet,_Spotted Athene brama Found: Asia, Africa
Image by: 1)
J.M. Garg - India
2) Charlie Westerinen near Phnom Pehn, Cambodia 3)
Lip Kee 4)
Imran_Shah - Pakistan
Genus Glaucidium
These small owls are found around the world. Those in the New World are usually termed Pygmy Owls and in the Old World they are called Owlets. They are very small and have a proportionally large head. They mostly eat insects and other small prey.
Owl,_Amazonian Pygmy- Glaucidium hardyi Found: South America
Image by: 1)
Marcel Holyoak - Peru 2)
JCbirder - Peru 3)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Anselmo_d'Affonseca in Brazil
Owl,_Andean_Pygmy- Glaucidium jardinii Found: northern South America
Image by: 1)
Jim Scarff 2)
Gunnar_Engblom 3, 4)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
4) Rufous morph
Owl,_Austral Pygmy- Glaucidium nana Found: Argentina, Chile
Image by: 1)
Joshua Stone - Chile 2) John Spooner 3)
Nick Athanas - Argentina
Owl,_Central_American_Pygmy- Glaucidium griseiceps Found: Mexico, Central America, Columbia, Ecuador
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - David_Bell 2)
Amy_McAndrews 3)
David_Rodriguez_Arias - Costa Rica
Owl,_Cloud-forest Pygmy- Glaucidium nubicola Found: Columbia, Ecuador
Image by: 1)
Mark Sharper - Ecuador 2)
Bob Cress Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Onlin - Bob Cress
Owl,_Colima Pygmy Glaucidium palmarum Found: Mexico
Image by: 1)
Ron Knight 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Nigel_Voaden
Owl,_Costa Rican Pygmy- Glaucidium costaricanum Found: Costa Rica, Panama
Image: 1)
Michael Woodruff - Costa Rica 2)
Nick Athanas - Costa Rica 3)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - John_and_Milena_Beer
Owl,_Cuban_Pygmy Glaucidium siju Found: Cuba
Image by: 1)
Shawn McCready - Cuba 2)
Jerry Oldenettel - Cuba 3)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Dubi_Shapiro 4)
Charles_J_Sharp
Owl,_Eurasian Pygmy- Glaucidium passerinum Found: Europe, Asia
Image by: 1) Artur Mikotajewski 2)
Sergey Yeliseev 3)
Stefan Berndtsson
Owl,_Ferruginous Pygmy-
Glaucidium brasilianum Found: North America (Arizona), Central America, South America
Image by: 1)
Pato Garza - Mexico 2)
Zac Pholen 3, 7)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador, Peru 4)
Dave Govoni - Belize 5)
Dominic Sherony 6)
Jose_Amorin
Owl,_Least Pygmy- also
East Brazilian Pygmy-Owl Glaucidium minutissimum Found: Brazil, Paraguay
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Adrian_Eisen_Rupp 2)
Claudio_Timm 3)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
Owl,_Northern Pygmy- Glaucidium gnoma Found: western North America, Central America
Image by: 1)
Sea Turtle - Oregon 2)
Guy Monty - British Columbia 3)
Ken-ich iUeda - California 4)
David Mitchell
Owl,_Pernambuco_Pygmy- Glaucidium mooreorum Found: eastern Brazil
Image by: 1)
Totodu74 2)
hbw.com
Owl,_Peruvian_Pygmy- Glaucidium peruanum Found: Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Francesco Veronesi - Ecuador 2)
Gunnar_Engblom - Peru 3, 4)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
Owl,_Subtropical_Pygmy- Glaucidium parkeri Found: Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Graham_Montgomery.
Owl,_Tamaulipas_Pygmy- Glaucidium sanchezi Found: northeastern Mexico
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Amy_McAndrews
Owl,_Yungas_Pygmy- Glaucidium bolivianum Found: Bolivia, Peru
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Peru
2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Tini_and_Jacob_Wijpkema
Owlet,_African Barred Glaucidium capense Found: Africa
Image by: 1)
Brian Ralphs - Mozambikque 2)
Francesco Veronesi - Namibia 3)
Miros Photography - Zambia 4)
Lillac Breasted Roller - Botswana
Owlet,_Albertine Glaucidium albertinum Found: DR Congo, Rwanda
Image by: 1)
jan_veenstra
Owlet,_Asian Barred Glaucidium cuculoides Found: Asia
Image by:
1, 4) Imran_Shah - Pakistan 2)
JJ Harrisonin - Nakhon Sawan,Thailand 3)
Mprasannak - India
Owlet,_Chestnut Glaucidium castaneum Found: Cameroon, DR Congo, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Uganda
Image by: 1)
Biodiversity_Heritage_Library
Owlet,_Chestnut-backed Glaucidium castanotum Found: Sri Lanka
Image by: 1)
David Cook - Sri Lanka 2)
Shanaka_Aravinda
Owlet,_Collared also
Collared Pygmy Owl Glaucidium brodiei Found: Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia
Image by:
1, 2, 3) Hyashi Haka
Owlet,_Javan Glaucidium castanopterum Found: Indonesia
Image by: 1)
Nicolas Le Jeune 2)
Francesco_Veronesi - Java
Owlet,_Jungle Glaucidium radiatum Found: Indian Subcontinent
Image by: 1)
Srikant Rao 2)
gkrishna63 3)
Sandeep_Gangadharan
Owlet,_Pearl-spotted Glaucidium perlatum Found: Africa
Image by:
1, 2 Arno Meintjes 3)
MarnixR 4)
Dave Curtis - Kenya
Owlet,_Red-chested Glaucidium tephronotum Found: Africa
Image by: 1)
John_Gerrard_Keulemans 2)
Nik_Borrow
Owlet,_Sjostedt's Glaucidium sjostedti Found: central Africa
Image by: 1)
Julie_DeWilde 2)
Ian_Banner
Genus Xenoglaux - 1 species
Owlet,_Long-whiskered Xenoglaux loweryi Found: area of Abra Patricia in northern Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Shachar_Alterman 2)
Nick Athanas - Peru