Great Gray Owl

(Strix nebulosa)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

N4 - Apparently Secure

SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

 
Great Gray Owl
 
 
Description

Unlike most owls the Great Gray Owl is primarily a diurnal hunter. It is relatively unafraid of humans.

 

Size

24 to 33 in length

54 to 60 wingspan

 

Voice

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

Forest clearings, open meadows, spruce and poplar stands adjacent to bogs, fens, and meadows.

Ecology

Migration

 

 

Nesting

 

 

Food

 

Distribution

Occurrence

Rare and local year-round resident. Occasional irruptive.

 

Maps

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map

Taxonomy

Class

Aves (birds)

Order

Strigiformes (owls)

Family

Strigidae (typical owls)

Subfamily

Striginae

Genus

Strix

   

Subordinate Taxa

Lappland Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa lapponica)

North-American Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa nebulosa)

   

Synonyms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visitor Photos
 

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Ramona Abrego

Great Gray Owl  

Great Gray Owl

Laurie Wachholz

Great Gray Owl  

 

Mike Smith

Great Gray Owl  

 

MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
Great Gray Owl   Great Gray Owl
   

 

Great Gray Owl  

 

 

Camera

 

Slideshows

Great Gray Owl
Brendon Lake

Great Gray Owl
About

A set containing photographs of Strix nebulosa, or the Great Gray Owl.

 

slideshow

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Other Videos

Great Grey Owl
iNatureSE

About

Uploaded on Apr 20, 2008

The Great Grey Owl is completely silent in flight and the male is often found hunting around fields, seemingly oblivious to people around him. The female is seen less often as she prepares for nesting and relies on the male to deliver food.

LAPPUGGLA Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa) Klipp - 1
AROSFILM

About

Uploaded on May 31, 2010

Lappuggla i Västmanland. Våren-April-2010. Great Grey Owl in Sweden. AROS FILM Fotograf: Gunnar Fernqvist.

Great Grey Owl - Strix nebulosa
JCVdude

About

Uploaded on Oct 2, 2010

Finding a Great Grey Owl in the forest is pretty rare especially with all the logging going on. See or video of the type of logging being conducted around British Columbia and imagine all the different wildlife that is being impacted.

The Great Grey Owl or Lapland Owl, Strix nebulosa, is a very large owl, distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. In some areas it is also called the Great Gray Ghost, Phantom of the north, Cinerous Owl, Spectral Owl, Lapland Owl, Spruce Owl, Bearded Owl and Sooty Owl.

In terms of length, the Great Grey Owl rivals the Eurasian Eagle-owl and the Blakiston's Fish Owl as the world's largest owl. The Great Grey is outweighed by those two species as well as several others including both the Great Horned (Bubo virginianus) and Snowy (Nyctea scandiaca) owls.

The harvest of timber from the Great Grey Owl's habitat is, perhaps, the greatest threat to this species. Intensified timber management typically reduces live and dead large-diameter trees used for nesting, leaning trees used by juveniles for roosting before they can fly, and dense canopy closures in stands used by juveniles for cover and protection. If perches are not left in clearcuts, Great Grey Owls cannot readily hunt in them. Although human-made structures (made specifically for use by this species) have been utilized by these owls, the species is far more common in areas protected from logging.

Sophisticated sonar of wild owls hunting in the arctic forest - BBC wildlife
BBCWorldwide

About

Uploaded on Apr 7, 2008

Watch the predators team analyse the keen sense of hearing and ideal hunting body shape of the owl. Their satellite-shaped head means that the penalty for rustling is almost always death. Watch some of the most amazing animals on the planet with BBC Worldwide.

Untamed Americas - Great Grey Owl
National Geographic

About

Published on May 7, 2012

Untamed Americas : STARTS SUN JUN 10 at 9P et/pt : http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/

From way above in the wintry treetops, Great Grey Owls can hear a teeny tiny vole digging underneath the snow.

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

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Ramona Abrego

Location: Hinckley area

Great Gray Owl

Mike Smith
4/12/2018

Location: East Bethel MN

Great Gray Owl

MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Moose Road, Nemadji State Forest

Pine County Roads 31, 32

Sax-Zim Bog

 

 

Binoculars

 

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