Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

Return to Eastern Owls

Color Photographs: © Corel Corp.

Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 24 to 34 inches. A large owl with a subdued dark, ashen gray coloration. Face disks large, gray with yellow eyes and a series of concentric gray circles. Neck with a distinctive, white band. Underside lighter than the upperside, vertically striped, but stripes weak and diffuse.

Similar Species:  The Great Gray Owl could be mistaken for the Northern Hawk Owl. The Northern Hawk Owl is only half of the size of the Great Gray Owl, the black margins of the eye disks contrast with the whitish interior, and the undersides are horizontally striped, not vertically. The Barred Owl is smaller, the eyes are dark, not yellow, and the neck and breast region is horizontally striped, not vertically. The Great Horned Owl is comparable in size, but the coloration is much lighter and browner, and the head has distinctive, ear-like tufts of feathers.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Great Gray Owl is resident through much of the northern boreal forest from Alaska in the west to the Great Lakes in the east. The range extends southward in the mountains of the west to Wyoming and California.

Overwintering Range:  Individual Great Gray Owls wander to New England and into the northern Great Plains during the winter.

Habitat: This species is found in deep coniferous forest and muskeg.

Food: Small mammals.

Behavior: A rare and elusive nocturnal owl of the boreal forest. The Great Gray Owl spends most of its time hidden in dense stands of conifers and is rarely seen. The voice is a deep, loud hoots.

Reproduction: The clutch consists of 2 to 5 white eggs. The eggs are laid in large nest of sticks hidden in a dense conifer.