Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula)

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

Return to Eastern Owls

Color Photographs: U.S. National Parks Service

Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 15 inches. A day-flying owl with a long. hawk-like tail. Body color brown to gray. Face disks about the eye dull white, heavily margined on their outer sides with black. Head without ear-like tufts of feathers. Underside dull white with horizontal bars.

Similar Species:  The Northern Hawk Owl is most likely to be confused with the Boreal Owl. The Boreal Owl is a smaller bird, with a short, stubby tail. The eye disks of the Boreal Owl are slightly margined with black on the outside margins, but the black is more diffuse. The streaking on the breast of the Boreal Owl is vertical, not horizontal. Both the Barred Owl and the Northern Saw-whet Owl have short, stubby tails and lack any black margins on the eye disks.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Northern Hawk Owl breeds and is resident in a wide band across North America roughly corresponding to the northern boreal forests of the continent. The species also occurs in northern Europe and Asia.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters in its breeding range, but the overwintering range extends further southward, just barely dipping into the northern United States.

Habitat: The Northern Hawk Owl is found in northern boreal forest.

Food: Small mammals and birds.

Behavior: Unlike most owls, the Northern Hawk Owl hunts by day. It looks and acts like a hawk. The voice is a series of whistles.

Reproduction: The clutch consists of 3 to 7 white eggs. The eggs are laid in a tree hole, although sometimes placed in an old bird nest.