Boreal Owl Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  Small owl with a large square head without ear tufts. It has a stocky body and a short tail.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Northern Saw-whet Owl, smaller than a Barred Owl.

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 8.3-11.0 in (21-28 cm)
    • Weight: 3.3-7.6 oz (93-215 g)
    • Wingspan: 21.6-24.4 in (55-62 cm)

  © Christoph Moning / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Brown overall with white spots on the back and brown streaks down the white belly. Yellow eyes peer out from a grayish white facial disc bordered in brown. Tiny white spots dot the crown.

• Behavior

  A sit-and-wait predator that hunts from perches, primarily at night, for rodents and other small mammals. Roosts in a different tree every day, usually 15–20 feet above the ground and close to the trunk.
• Habitat

  Lives in boreal forests with spruce, aspen, poplar, birch, and balsam fir. In high mountains of West, found in subalpine forests of fir and spruce.