How Long Do Owls Live? Lifespan of Common Owl Species

How long do owls live in the wild?

An owl’s life is most dangerous at the start. Many chicks starve in the nest, and young owls leaving their parents must find food and a territory of their own in their first autumn and winter. In the barn owl, only about one young bird in three survives to breed, and in one American study 572 banded barn owls died at an average age of under two years.

Owls that get through that first year have much better chances. Ringing data from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) show that about 74% of adult tawny owls and 65% of adult little owls survive from one year to the next. That is why the typical life expectancy of an adult is only a few years, while a lucky minority lives into its teens or twenties.

Owl lifespans by species

Typical figures are for wild birds that reach breeding age; records come from ringing (banding) and are minimum ages, because a ringed bird may already have been a year or more old when it was caught.

The pattern is clear: big owls tend to live longer than small ones. Records are also biased by effort, since species that are ringed in large numbers, such as barn and tawny owls in Britain, have more chances to produce a very old bird.

Why do small owls die younger than big owls?

Size shapes an owl’s whole life strategy. Small owls burn energy fast and carry little reserve, so a few nights of bad weather, deep snow or a crash in vole numbers can starve them. They are also hunted by larger owls and hawks: the barn owl, for example, is prey for eagle-owls, goshawks and great horned owls.

Small owls make up for their short lives by breeding early and often. Barn owls and little owls usually breed at one year old, and barn owls can lay 4–6 eggs, or two clutches in a good year. Large owls such as eagle-owls and great horned owls have few natural predators once grown, lay fewer eggs, usually start breeding later and invest more in each chick. Ecologists call these “fast” and “slow” life histories.

What kills wild owls?

Most owls die from a mix of natural and human causes:

• Starvation, especially young birds in their first winter and adults during long spells of snow or rain, or after a crash in rodent numbers.
• Road traffic: barn owls and tawny owls often hunt along roadsides and are hit by vehicles.
• Power lines and wires: collisions and electrocution are leading causes of death for Eurasian eagle-owls.
• Predators, mainly larger owls and birds of prey.
• Poisoning, as owls that eat rodents can pick up rat poison from their prey.
• Shooting and persecution, now illegal in Europe and North America but still a cause of death in some areas.

Tawny owls show how competition matters too. Young tawnies that cannot find a vacant territory near where they hatched often starve, because the adults around them defend their woods for life.

How long do owls live in captivity?

Owls in zoos, rescue centers and falconry collections usually live much longer than wild owls. They are fed every day, get veterinary care and never face cars, power lines or predators. Captive barn owls often reach 20 years or more, captive barred owls have passed 30, and large species such as great horned owls and eagle-owls have reportedly lived to about 50.

The difference shows that wild owls rarely die of old age. Their short average lives reflect the dangers of finding food every night, not a short natural limit.

How do scientists know how old owls are?

Most owl ages come from ringing, called banding in North America. A trained ringer fits a light metal ring with a unique number to an owl’s leg, often as a chick in the nest box, so its exact year of hatching is known. If the bird is caught again, or found dead years later, its age can be worked out.

National schemes such as the BTO in Britain and the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory in the United States keep these records. They also reveal what kills owls, how far young birds travel and which species are declining. Read more about owl diets and why food shortages matter in What do owls eat?, or meet the owls in the UK.