Nineteen Owls

BirdNote^®
Nineteen Owls
Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote

          [Great Horned Owl]

Nineteen owls: That’s how many species call the U.S. and Canada home. And while some, like this Great Horned Owl, do go hoot in the night, the natural diversity of our nineteen defies stereotypes.

North America’s owls range in size from the 4-pound Snowy Owl, which stands more than 2 feet tall…

          [Snowy Owl]

To the diminutive Elf Owl of the Southwestern deserts, who weighs less than 2 ounces.

          [Elf Owl]  

The Spotted Owl inhabits deep, dark old growth forests…

          [Spotted Owl]

…while the Flammulated Owl prefers open pine woods…

          [Flammulated Owl]

… and the Short-eared Owl floats over wide open grasslands.

          [Short-eared Owl]

All owls are carnivores, but their diets range from mammals the size of jackrabbits to insects like moths and crickets. Boreal Owls hunt in total darkness, using only their hearing.

          [Boreal Owl song]

Northern Hawk-Owls hunt by sight in broad daylight.

          [Northern Hawk Owl]

A few migrate with the seasons; others remain on their territories year-round.

          [Spotted Owl]

Nineteen owls. Nineteen distinctive natural histories. You can learn more about all of them at our website: BirdNote.org. I’m Michael Stein.

###

Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Spotted Owl ML125378 recorded by Thomas G. Sander. Snowy Owl ML137339 recorded by Philip S. Taylor. Short-eared Owl ML198229341 recorded by Luke Pearson. Northern Hawk Owl ML150432751 recorded by John Patterson. Great Horned Owl ML22874 recorded by William R. Fish. Flammulated Owl ML340633911 recorded by Brian Sullivan. Elf Owl ML40636 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller. Burrowing Owl ML119479 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller. Boreal Owl ML225028371 recorded by Danny Hernandez.

BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote October 2025
Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# owl-11-2025-10-06    owl-11

Reference:
https://abcbirds.org/blog20/owl-species-united-states/