Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus): Facts, Size and Diet

What does a great horned owl look like?

The great horned owl is a bulky, barrel-chested bird with a big head and two tall tufts of feathers that look like horns or cat ears. These tufts are called plumicorns; they have nothing to do with hearing (see what owl ear tufts are for). The large eyes are bright yellow, set in a reddish-brown to gray facial disc edged with a black rim.

Its plumage is mottled gray-brown above and paler below, with fine dark horizontal bars across the belly. A white patch on the throat is easy to see when the owl calls, because it puffs out its throat like a white ball. Color varies with region: birds from the subarctic are pale, almost frosty gray, while those from the Pacific Northwest are dark and sooty, and owls of the southwestern deserts are paler and more sandy.

The legs and toes are feathered right down to the large, dark talons, which helps keep them warm in northern winters. Like all owls, it has fixed, tube-shaped eyes and must swivel its whole head to look around, something it does through a remarkable range (see can owls turn their heads 360 degrees?).

How big is a great horned owl?

The great horned owl is a big bird, but its exact size varies a lot across its range. The largest birds live in interior Alaska and central Canada; the smallest live in the deserts of the Southwest, Baja California and the Yucatán Peninsula. As in most owls, females are larger and heavier than males.

In North America only the snowy owl is heavier on average, and the great gray owl is longer but much lighter, being mostly fluffy feathers. The great horned owl’s grip is famously strong. A figure of about 300 psi (2,100 kPa) of crushing force in the talons is often quoted, though measurements of owl grip strength are few and vary with the size of the bird.

Where do great horned owls live?

Great horned owls breed from the tree line of Alaska and northern Canada south through the whole of the lower 48 United States and Mexico into Central America. They are absent from the high Arctic tundra, where the snowy owl takes over, and from most offshore islands, including the Caribbean.

Few birds use as many habitats. Great horned owls live in deciduous and coniferous forests, swamps, prairies with wooded gullies, desert canyons, rocky coasts, farmland, suburbs and large city parks. They do best where open ground for hunting sits next to trees or cliffs for roosting and nesting, which is why woodland edges and patchy farmland suit them better than unbroken old forest. Mated adults stay on the same territory all year.

The species once also included the horned owls of South America. In 2026 the American Ornithological Society split those populations into three separate species (the Paramo, tropical and Magellanic horned owls), so Bubo virginianus now refers to the owls of North and Central America. Older books and websites that describe a range reaching Argentina are using the earlier, broader definition.

What do great horned owls eat?

Great horned owls are carnivores with one of the broadest diets of any bird of prey in the Americas. Hundreds of prey species have been recorded across their range, but rabbits, hares, rats, mice and voles make up the bulk of most diets. In the far north, snowshoe hares can dominate, and owl numbers there rise and fall with the hare cycle.

They also take skunks, opossums, squirrels, porcupines, bats, ducks, grouse, crows, herons and other raptors, including smaller owls such as screech owls and barred owls. Frogs, snakes, lizards, fish, scorpions and big insects round out the menu. The great horned owl is one of the few predators that regularly kills striped skunks; like most birds, it has a poor sense of smell, so the spray does not deter it.

Most hunting happens from dusk to midnight and again before dawn. The owl watches from a perch such as a snag, pole or tree branch, then glides down on silent wings and seizes prey with its talons. Small prey is swallowed whole; larger animals are torn apart. Bones, fur and feathers are later coughed up as large gray pellets, about 8–10 cm (3–4 in) long.

Behavior: hoots, territory and roosting

The great horned owl is the classic “hoot owl” of North American films and campfire stories. Its territorial song is a deep, soft series of four or five hoots, and males and females often call back and forth in duets; the female’s voice is noticeably higher. Hooting is most frequent from late fall into midwinter, when pairs are courting and defending territories.

By day the owl roosts in dense trees, often conifers, pressed against the trunk with its tufts raised and its body pulled thin. It is so well camouflaged that it is usually found only because crows have discovered it. Crows and ravens mob great horned owls loudly and persistently, because the owls kill them at night.

Great horned owls are mostly solitary outside the breeding season, but a pair keeps its territory for years. They are fierce defenders of nests and young, striking at intruders, dogs and occasionally people who come too close (see do owls attack people?).

Nesting and owlets

Great horned owls are among the earliest nesting birds in North America. Courtship starts in fall, and egg-laying ranges from late November in southern Florida to April or May in Canada and Alaska; in much of the United States it falls between January and March, often with snow on the ground.

They do not build nests. Instead they take over old stick nests of red-tailed hawks, crows, ravens, herons or squirrels, or lay their eggs in tree cavities, on cliff ledges, in barns and on artificial platforms. The clutch is usually 2 eggs, sometimes 1–4 and rarely more. The female does almost all the incubating for about 30–37 days while the male brings her food.

Owlets start climbing out onto nearby branches, a stage called branching, at about 6 weeks and can fly short distances a week or two later. They are not skilled fliers until about 10–12 weeks, and the parents keep feeding them into late summer or fall. More detail is in when do great horned owls nest?.

How long do great horned owls live?

Great horned owls are among the longest-lived North American birds of prey. Many adults that survive their first year live 10–13 years in the wild, and the oldest known wild bird, identified by its leg band, was about 28 years old. Captive owls have lived 30 years or more.

The first year is the most dangerous. Young owls that leave their parents’ territory in fall often have a mortality rate above 50% in their first winter, mainly from starvation, collisions and fights with territorial adults.

Predators and threats

Healthy adults have few natural enemies. Golden and bald eagles and other great horned owls occasionally kill them. Eggs and owlets that fall from the nest can be taken by raccoons, foxes, coyotes, bobcats and black bears.

Most deaths today are linked to people. Studies of banded and recovered owls list collisions with cars, wires and buildings, electrocution on power lines, illegal shooting and trapping, and poisoning from eating rodents that have taken rodenticides. In the past the species was shot widely as a threat to poultry and game birds, and small bounties were once paid for dead owls.

Is the great horned owl endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List classifies the great horned owl as Least Concern. Partners in Flight has estimated a population of about 5.3 million birds, a figure that predates the 2026 split and also counted the South American horned owls. Long-term surveys suggest modest declines in some regions, but the species remains common across most of its range.

In the United States the great horned owl is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and in Canada it is protected by provincial wildlife laws. It is the official bird of the province of Alberta.

Myths and facts

• Myth: the horns are ears. They are feathers. The ear openings are on the sides of the head, hidden beneath the facial disc.
• Myth: owls can spin their heads all the way around. Like other owls, the great horned owl can turn its head about 270 degrees, not 360.
• Myth: a hooting owl is an omen of death. This belief appears in several cultures, but hooting is simply territorial and courtship communication, heard most in winter.
• Fact: skunk spray does not stop it. Great horned owls regularly kill skunks, and their nests and feathers can smell of skunk.

Great horned owls and people

Great horned owls adapt well to people as long as they have large trees and open ground to hunt over. Many nest in suburbs, cemeteries, golf courses and city parks, where they feed on rats, rabbits and squirrels, and their deep hooting on a winter night is a familiar sound for many North Americans.

Birdwatchers enjoy them most from a respectful distance. Nesting owls should not be approached or disturbed, and any owl roosting near a path is best watched quietly with binoculars. If you want to learn to tell it from its relatives, our guide to owls of North America covers every species.