Owls are mystical birds that have been held in high honor over the years. They are far-sighted, super-powered hearing birds that see perfectly only in the dark.
In North America, different species of owls differ in operation, size, feeding habits, and habitat.
Today, i will be looking at the eight most beautiful Owls in Connecticut with amazing high definition pictures you can print.
Great_Horned_Owl
Botanical Name: Bubo virginianus
Great Horned Owls are large, fierce-looking owls in Connecticut that are known as one of the greatest habitat adaptive birds.
- Length: 17-25 inches (43 – 64 cm)
- Weight: 2.5 to 4 pounds (1134 – 1814 grams)
- Wingspan: 3 – 5 feet (91-153 cm)
Great Horned Owls can be found in almost all parts of North America, from the Arctic south down to the tropics. Due to its great habitat adaptive nature, it can survive anywhere as far as there are trees and rocky nesting sites.
Also, both the male and female Great horned owls are known for the high-pitched sounds they make. It is said that there are no other owl species that does hooting better than a Great Horned Owl.
Great Horned Owls feed on larger animals to sustain their bigger bodies. They mainly eat rabbits, geese, groundhogs, rats, and other species of raptors. They also prey on small animals like reptiles, including frogs, insects, invertebrates, mice, and scorpions.
Great Horned Owls have a weak sense of smell.
Long-Eared_Owl_
Botanical Name: Asio otus
Long-eared Owls are one of the hardest birds to locate in Connecticut because of their extreme camouflage nature. They are also called the Northern Long-Eared Owl, or Cat Owl, because of their catlike facial features. They are secretive and roost in very dense foliage.
- Length: 31 and 40 cm (12 and 16 in)
- Weight: 288 g – 327 g (10.2 oz – 11.5 oz)
- Wingspan: 86 to 102 cm (34 in to 40 in)
The Long-eared owls are unique birds that are also quite sociable. You can easily find them in clusters where they live and even share roosts!
However, even though Long-eared Owls are incredibly difficult to see, listening is the best way to locate them. The males are quite talkative during the mating season. Their typical call is usually repeated anywhere from 10 to 200 times and sounds like a low “hoo,” during this period. With this, you can trace the sound and find them.
-Barn_Owl
Botanical name: Tyto furca
Barn Owls, also called Monkey-faced Owls, are non-migratory birds that are seen year-round in Connecticut.
Due to the shape of their face that steer sound to their ears, they are regarded as one of the most excellent hunter-by-sound ever tested. Their hearing is excellent to the degree that they can locate small animals under dense bush or snow without any difficulty. They even go ahead to hunt bats.
- Length: 11–17 inches (29–44 cm)
- Weight: 1 lb. 4 oz. (555 grams)
- Wingspan: 39–49 inches (1–1.25 meters)
Barn Owls are nocturnal birds that live in abandoned barns.
However, they are one of the endangered species of owl. Although being great hunters, farmers love them because they keep help keep the surrounding rodent-free.
-Eastern_Screech_owl
Botanical Name: Megascops asio
Eastern Screech-owls wrestlers are grey or red short, stocky, with no necks birds that have fake ears tufts on the top of their head.
- Length: 6.3– 9.8 in (16–25 cm)
- Weight: 4.2–8.6 oz. (120–244 g)
- Wingspan: 18–24 in (46–61 cm)
Apart from their fake ears tufts, they possess real ears located at the sides of their heads, below their feathers, which are parallel with their eye line. The tufts serve as camouflage to break up their silhouette but can be used to communicate to other owls.
Eastern Screech-owls are small owls that can live in any wooded area in Connecticut. Screech-owls, normally avoid areas populated by other larger owls, especially Great Horned Owl.
However, the Eastern Screech-owls are not really skeptical about humans. They comfortably nest inside empty spaces in populated buildings or on top of streetlamps, next to busy roadways/highways.
Also, Eastern Screech-owls make various hoots and songs. Their notable and most common hoot is an even pitched trill called “tremolo.” The tremolo is used by mating pairs to keep in touch with each other and usually lasts between 3 to 6 seconds. It’s more like a mating call.
Northern_Saw-whet_Owl
Scientific Name: Aegolius acadicus
Northern Saw-whet Owl is one of the smallest owls on the planet earth. They normally live in dense coniferous or mixed hardwood forests along the river or stream.
- Length: 6.5–9 inches (17–23 cm)
- Weight: 1.9–5.3 oz. (54–151 grams)
- Wingspan: 16.5–22.2 inches (42–56.3 cm)
Northern Saw-whet owls are gradually going into extinction as a result of the massive destruction of mature trees, which is their major habitat.
These owls are known for their whetting sound, which sounds sharp as a saw, hence their name. They mostly make sounds during their breeding season. The sound usually sounds like something made from two notes per sound, which is “too-too-too.”
Scientific Name: Asio flammeus
Short-eared owls are mid-sized tawny-brown mottled owls that you can see during the daytime. They exist and are dispersed in large quantities across North America.
They mostly hunt in the daytime because that is when voles their favorite prey is active.
- Length: 13–17 inches (34–43 cm)
- Weight: 7.3–16.8 oz (206–475 grams)
- Wingspan: 33.5-40.5 inches (85–103 cm)
You can easily see short-eared owls at dusk or dawn in open country areas in Connecticut, such as fields, grasslands, meadows, or airports. They normally nest on the ground in these open areas.
Short-eared owls poop on their eggs to protect them from predators. The smell from their poop usually drives predators away.
Short-eared Owls are not particularly vocal birds. Their sounds are awful, like a cat looking for a mate.
Barred Owl
Botanical Name: Strix varia
Barred Owls, also known as the Hoot Owls, are nocturnal unthreatened owls in Connecticut. Their hoots are known as classic sounds that are usually featured in scary Halloween tales and horror movies.
- Length: 16–25 inches (40–63 cm)
- Weight: 1–2.75 pounds (500–1250 gr)
- Wingspan: 38–49 inches (96–125 cm)
Barred Owls are inquisitive birds that carefully observe things around them. When a human approaches them, they get nervous. They immediately fly off to another tree to continue observing the human. That’s how amusing they can be.
Barred Owls are relatively large birds that top the food chain, having humans and Great Horned Owls as their only predators.
Barred Owls prey on mice and other small rodents. They feed on rats, rabbits, bats, weasels, opossums, squirrels, moles, minks, a variety of birds, frogs, snakes, fish, turtles, and go as far as hunting sweet, juicy insects. However, they eat just anything as far as it is made of meat.
Also, Barred Owls are very committed birds that mate for life.
Botanical Name: Bubo scandiacus
Snowy Owls, known as polar owls, are some of the most stunning birds in the world. They are mostly crystal white, with their white plumage dropping at almost everyone along their tracks, both birders and non-birders. The interesting part about these birds is that they get whiter with age.
- Length: 20.7–25.2 inches (52.5–64 cm)
- Weight: 3.2–4 lb. (1,465–1,800 gram)
- Wingspan: 48–60 inches (1.2–1.5 meters)
Snowy Owls are long migratory birds that mate and breed in northern Canada during the summer on the tundra. But, when winter arrives, their travel far south. You can never know how far south they can travel. Sometimes they travel as far down to the Northern USA.
Snowy Owls are territorial birds that make a loud “hoo hoo,” sound when defending their territory or searching for a mate. Males usually make it. The hoot is usually very loud and can be heard up to 7 miles away on the tundra. The Females rarely hoot but make lighter sounds like cackles, hissing, shrieks, and bill snapping.
In Connecticut, the most common owl is the barred owl, an ardent hunter of rodents. The barred owls live in almost all parts of the states. However, they prefer wetlands and red maple swamps, which is a widespread habitat in Connecticut.
Most owls in Connecticut feed on reptiles, such as mice, rats, moles, frogs, salamanders, crayfish, and even insects and small birds.
Yes, they are burrowing owls in Connecticut that are patchily dispersed across the states and can be seen from time to time. Oftentimes, they use the burrows of other species, such as prairie dogs.
Also, the Burrowing Owl usually makes its habitat in deserts, grasslands, or areas of open habitat.
I hope you found this article educative. For further study on an exciting topic, do check out this, “Beautiful Woodpeckers In Virginia.”