Long-Eared Owls

The long-eared owl is a beautiful nocturnal bird of prey built for hunting at night and being well camouflaged during the day.  This owl spends most of its time in the boreal forests of Canada and northern parts of the U.S.  Northern Ohio is on the very southern edge of this owls breeding range. However, this very secretive owl does migrate and winters in Ohio.  They migrate at night and in November will begin showing up in Ohio.  Their spring migration occurs during March and April.  Most long-eared owls found in Ohio are winter migrants.  Long-eareds are social owls and are often found in winter roosts of between 2 and 20 or more owls.  While social they do like their space so they will often be perched within a few feet of each other.

These owls are strictly nocturnal.  They do not hunt during the day, in fact, it will be almost completely dark before they become active. These birds have large ear tufts and prominent orange facial discs and like other owls they have a body made for silent flight.  Their flight feathers have fringed edges and downy surfaces that mute the sound of the owl moving through air.  They have the most incredible hearing due to their asymmetrically placed ear openings and large sound catching facial disks.  Tests have shown that they can catch mice in complete darkness.  This suggests that their ability to triangulate on a specific target using a strongly developed sense of hearing is quite advanced – better than most owls.  Their ear tufts are not their ears.  Their ears are located behind their eyes and covered by feathers.  Their ear tufts are long feathers and actually part of their camouflage.  When threatened long-eared owls compress their bodies to incredible thin proportions and raise their ear tufts, making them look like a broken tree limb. 

Long-eareds hunt over open fields and meadows and tend to concentrate in areas with plenty of meadow voles, mice and other small mammals.  They like their daytime roosts to be near their hunting grounds.  They like stands of conifers and pines and will use grapevine tangles and even pin oaks as these also offer dense branching and retain their leaves well into winter giving them a hiding place.  Long-eared owls earn their keep in the ecosystem by helping to control rodent populations, contributing to a healthier and more stable food web.  They are also an indicator species as they are dependent on a variety of ecosystems.  Owl sightings denote healthy systems. Unfortunately, loss and fragmentation of their woodland and grassland habitats due to agriculture and human development and the light pollution that comes with these activities is linked to decreasing long-eared owl populations.

These beautiful owls can’t hunt in light polluted areas.  They may only be winter visitors, but we need to give them the dark night they need to thrive.  Let’s help these owls and all nighttime owls by turning off all unnecessary lights at night so they can continue to do their part in the ecosystem.