Owls are found on all continents except Antarctica. Owls are divided into two families: the typical owls, Strigidae; and the barn-owls, Tytonidae. They range in size from 13-70 cm. Owls do not construct nests, but rather look for a sheltered nesting site or an abandoned nest in trees, underground burrows, or in buildings, barns and caves.

Owls are solitary and nocturnal. They hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds though a few species specialize in hunting fish. Most hunt for prey only in the darkness. Much of the owls' hunting strategy depends on stealth and surprise. They are very quiet in flight plus they have dull colors. Owls have large forward-facing eyes and ear-holes, a hawk-like beak, a flat face, and usually a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye. The facial disc helps to funnel the sound of prey to their ears. Although owls have binocular vision, their large eyes are fixed in their sockets, as with other birds, and they must turn their entire head to change views. Owls can rotate their heads and necks as much as 270 degrees in either direction. The female is usually larger than the male.

Owl species can be found on these web pages:
New World Owls, Old World Owls, Barn Owls, Eagle-Owls, Pygmy-Owls, Scops-Owls


Genus Athene
These are small brown owls with white speckles; yellow eyes; white supercilium.
They are found mainly in the Old World. The Burrowing Owl is found in the Americas.

Owl,_Burrowing Athene cunicularia   Found: The Americas Image by: 1, 2) Alan D Wilson - Farm Road Off SR17, Near Othello, Washington   3) Mauricio Mercer - Brazil  4) Cristiano Crolle - Las Gaviotas, Argentina  5) Dick Daniels - Center for Birds of Prey, Charleston, South Carolina  6) Dick - San Diego Zoo  
1) Adult with fledglings  2) Juvenile 



Owl,_Little  Athene noctua  Found: Europe, Asia, Africa   Introduced: South Island, New Zealand Image by: 1) Drew Avery  2) Trebol-a 3) Phil McIver - England


Owlet,_Forest  Athene blewitti  Found: forests of central India Image by: 1) Tarique Sani   2) Raju Kasambe


Owlet,_Spotted  Athene brama  Found: Asia, Africa Image by:  1) J.M. Garg - India  2) Charlie Westerinen near Phnom Pehn, Cambodia  3) Lip Kee  4) Imran_Shah - Pakistan



Genus Glaucidium
These small owls are found around the world. Those in the New World are usually termed Pygmy Owls and in the Old World they are called Owlets.  They are very small and have a proportionally large head. They mostly eat insects and other small prey.

Owl,_Amazonian Pygmy-  Glaucidium hardyi  Found: South America
Image by: 1) Marcel Holyoak - Peru  2) JCbirder - Peru  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Anselmo_d'Affonseca in Brazil


Owl,_Andean_Pygmy-  Glaucidium jardinii  Found: northern South America Image by: 1) Jim Scarff  2) Gunnar_Engblom  3, 4) Nick Athanas - Ecuador
4) Rufous morph


Owl,_Austral Pygmy-  Glaucidium nana  Found: Argentina, Chile