Ohio Owls: Cool Facts

Ohio’s owls can range greatly in size, from the diminutive Northern saw-whet owls, about the size of a robin, to the great horned owl, nearly two feet long! But no matter big or small, all of Ohio’s owls are exceptional predators.

Their large eyes allow them to hunt effectively in low-light conditions. This, combined with their excellent hearing and ability to precisely triangulate sounds, make them some of the top avian predators. The ear “tufts” that are visible on the screech owl, great horned owl, and long-eared owl are not ears but just a display. Like other raptors, owls have powerful talons and a strong, sharp beak that help them hunt. They have specialized feathers that enable them to fly nearly silently in pursuit of prey.

Owls feed on a variety of prey, including small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and occasionally fish! But owls, like all other birds, cannot chew their food. Instead, they swallow their prey whole, and larger prey are ripped into pieces. To effectively rid their digestive tracts of indigestible materials, owls regurgitate what cannot be digested in “owl pellets”. Researchers studying the diets of owls pick through these pellets to determine what and how many animals were consumed!

To learn more about Ohio’s owls visit wildohio.gov.