Owls

That tell-tale disc-shaped face tells you it’s an owl, sure – but which one? Iowa has nine different species that call our state home, whether full-time or part-time, and you can find them in a number of different habitats.

• Owls of Iowa, brochure

Barn Owl (state endangered)

• Medium-sized (16 inches tall)
• Pale tawny and white plumage with long legs; male typically whiter than female
• Flight is moth-like
• Heart-shaped face with brown eyes
• Doesn’t hoot; call usually a long hissing shriek
• Cavity nester – historically in hollow trees and now often found in vacant wooden barns
• Dependent on grassland where it finds its primary food, meadow and prairie voles

Eastern Screech-owl

• Small (8.5 inches tall) and broad-winged
• Plumage color varies from gray to brown to red
• Head has feathery “ear” tufts (plumicorns) and eyes are yellow
• Main song is a descending whinny and also emits a long tremolo or monotone trill
• Cavity nester – often found in towns with large hollow trees
• Found year-round and especially eats small rodents and large insects

Great Horned Owl

• Large (22 inches tall)
• Permanent Iowa resident
• Grayish tawny-brown body with dense barring on underparts and white throat
• Large head with pair of feather tufts and yellow eyes
• Song a deep muffled hooting in series – hoo hoodoo hoo
• Nests in large tree cavities and often lays eggs atop unused red-tailed hawk nests; earliest nesting raptor, often laying eggs in January
• Woodlot and open-country species that eats rabbits, skunks, squirrels, cats, as well as other owls and hawks

Barred Owl

• Medium-large (21 inches tall) stocky gray owl
• Year-round resident
• Rounded head with large dark eyes
• Strong resonant hoot that sounds like  “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all”
• Nests in hollow trees and prefers mature forests and wooded waterways for roosting and nesting
• Mainly eats mice and small rodents; also birds (including smaller owls), snakes, frogs, and crayfish, and sometimes fish

Long-eared Owl (state threatened)

• Medium (15 inches tall), long-winged and slender
• Similar color to great horned owl
• Named for long feathered “ear” tufts on head,
• Has yellow eyes
• Male gives a low hoot, and other calls include nasal barks and quiet moans
• Preferred nesting habitat is dense conifer stands adjacent to open grasslands where this owl usually takes over old crow, hawk, or squirrel nests for its own
• Main food is small mammals, especially voles
   

Short-eared Owl (state endangered)

• Medium (15 inches tall), long-winged and slender
• Tawny-brown colored plumage with males being lighter color on its underside than females
• Rounded head with very short “ear” tufts
• Has yellow eyes
• Male gives muffled poo poo poo, and other sounds include nasal barks and wheezy notes
• Nests on the ground in large open grasslands (250 acres or more)
• Main food source is meadow and prairie voles
   

Northern Saw-whet Owl

• Smallest (8 inches tall) Iowa owl with buffy brown plumage and
• Common winter visitor
• Rounded head with yellow eyes
• Song is repeated low, whistled toots – poo poo poo, with regular rhythm
• Cavity nester of northern forests, and often found in cedars and other conifers during Iowa winter months
• Main food source is mice, especially those found at the woodland edge
   

Snowy Owl

• Large (23 inches tall)
• Heaviest North American owl
• Mostly snow-white plumage
• Sporadic winter visitor from the arctic tundra
• Rounded head with yellow eyes
• Song of male a deep muffle hoot
• Main food source on breeding grounds is lemmings

Burrowing Owl

• Small (9.5 inches tall), long-legged, and short-tailed
• Grayish-brown plumage with white throat
• Rounded head with yellow eyes
• Male song is a high, nasal, trumpeting coo-coo, coo-coo
• A grassland species and very rare nester in Iowa, where it nests primarily in ground burrows made by badgers
• Eats beetles, other insects, and small mammals

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