You can find different types of owls lurking in the snowy tundras of Alaska to the crowded rainforests of Southeast Asia. Each owl breed variety becomes a necessary predator to their respective environments. They prevent infestations of small animals, such as rodents, moths, and fish. All the different types of owl breeds in the world are unique, with their own distinct physical features. Some owls have long tails, while another type of owl breed would have no tail at all. Their most prominent characteristics such as their large eyes and feather patterns make them attractive animals for photography. Despite so, many wildlife photographers find it difficult to take pictures of them for three major reasons: they are nocturnal, antisocial, and experts at camouflage.
Some people search for the largest owl species or the different owl colors after coming across a unique owl they had never seen before. But you could also love owls despite never actually seeing one. Learning about these birds is a great way to appreciate their importance in our ecosystem and you would know how to react if you come across one. There are over 250 owl species in the world, but we’ll begin with just a few popular owl names to jumpstart you on your journey in learning about these wide-eyed wonders.
Origins of Owls
The oldest fossil record of the owls has been dated around 60 million years ago. It was when dinosaurs went extinct that birds experienced rapid evolution. Taxonomists and researchers alike believe that most birds come from a singular taxonomic group called Neoaves, including the owls.
Ancient Greeks associated owls with Athena, the goddess of war, logic, and handicrafts. They believed that the appearance of an owl ensured victory during a battle. Meanwhile, Native Americans associated owls with death and the afterlife, believing that owls were departed loved ones or had ties with spiritual entities.
Surprisingly, owls evolved to become top predators in the wild despite their friendly appearance. They are silent flyers with eyes designed to create full focus and depth perception. Their asymmetrical ears are also used to track the exact locations of sounds being made. Their necks can rotate at 270 degrees with the help of a blood pooling system that controls their eyesight and brain when doing so.
Now that we know the general background of owls, we can start learning about specific types of owls. Here we have organized five different categories: the dangerous types, the adorable types, the rarest types, and the beautiful types. Included in this list are their preferred habitat, their unique physical traits, their behaviors, and even some entrancing images of them.
Are owls dangerous? Owls from popular media such as Hedwig from Harry Potter and Owl from Winnie the Pooh might lead you to believe they are warm creatures. But real owls are far more fearsome than your usual birds. Their large eyes and attractive features may have you disarmed, but never forget that they are still considered great predators and are extremely territorial.
Great Horned Owl
The owls of North America are wide in variety but the most dangerous of them all is the great horned owl. These mottled gray-brown birds have thick bodies and two large feathered tufts on their heads. In terms of owl size, the horned great owl is the largest of its species within its territory.
Great horned owls have an average wingspan of 200 centimeters and stand as tall as 60 centimeters. We can find them all across North America preying on birds, rodents, and even larger animals. The clutch force of a great horned owl is similar to the bite force of a large guard dog. These owls focus their attacks on the face and head when attacking larger animals to blind, disfigure, and even kill their prey.
The great horned owl is also aggressive and territorial. Residents of Seattle had reported consecutive attacks by a great horned owl from a nearby park in 2012. These attacks were unprovoked, just like the 2015 Salem, Oregon attacks where a jogger was repeatedly struck on the scalp by a great horned owl out of the blue.
Barred Owl
Barred owls are the next type of owls you should avoid. It’s best to stay away from their habitats found east of the United States and the southeast of Canada. They are smaller compared to great horned owls but can be a real threat. A barred owl can reach a maximum weight of 800 grams and a wingspan of 110 centimeters.
You can spot a barred owl by its mottled brown and white colors and black eyes. They have vertical brown markings and an upper breast crossed with horizontal brown colors. It is possible to hear a barred owl hooting, unlike most owls. And just like the rest, they keep a nocturnal hunting pattern.
Many hikers have reported being attacked by barred owls around Texas to British Columbia. This has a lot to do with their territorial and antisocial behavior. However, there is one particular barred owl that could’ve committed actual murder. In 2003, a man from North Carolina was accused of murdering his wife with a fireplace blow poke. Fast forward eight years later, a barred owl was reported to be terrorizing the Pacific Northwest, causing wounds similar to the wife’s injuries. This prompted a reexamination of the case, with the suspicion that the barred owl could have, in fact, caused the wife’s death instead.
Snowy Owl
The snowy owl is one of the most beautiful owls in existence, but they are also one of the most dangerous. Snowy owls are white owls that camouflage well around snow-trodden areas. You can usually find them around arctic tundras. However, winter in some areas has spotted these snowy owls visiting lakes, oceans, fields, and airport landing strips.
The male snowy owl is a pure white owl compared to its female counterpart, which has black patterns on its back. However, both the male and female snowy owls have white faces, rounded heads, and yellow eyes.
Just like most owls, the snowy owl is extremely protective of its domain. But unlike other owls, they become increasingly aggressive during the breeding season. Reports of snowy owl attacks against humans are quite common during this time. They are known to dive-bomb on an unsuspecting human’s head. They are also brave against arctic wolves where there are reports of them battling against the larger species.
Rarest Types of Owls
Owls that belong to the rarest types of owls have either resurfaced after a century or are in danger of extinction. If you realize that you have recently spotted an owl under this list, contact a nearby wildlife reserve to protect them from further threats like poaching and deforestation.
Blakiston’s Fish Owl
The Blakiston’s fish owl is one of the rarest types of owls and the largest owl in the world. This large brown owl can reach a maximum of 6 feet in wingspan and 2 feet in height. You can find these marvelous birds around mature boreal forests in Japan and Russia.
The Blakiston’s fish owl consumes salmon, pike fish, catfish, and even frogs. Fishes caught by a Blakiston’s fish owl can even be two or three times their size. The Blakiston’s fish owls are also known to sing in pairs. The deep-toned song only has three notes, with two coming from a male and one coming from a female.
Jonathan Slaught, the leading expert in Blakiston’s fish owl, conducts his research in the Russian forests where the owl co-habits with the Ussuri brown bear, Amur leopard, Asiatic black bear, and the Amur tiger. According to the IUCN Red List, there are now only 1,500 to 3,700 Blakiston’s fish owls in the world. Slaught and his partner, Ornithologist Surmach, have been battling the possible extinction of the Blakiston’s fish owl for years. Their solution? Creating more parks available for the owl.
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