Search Results - Field Guide

Barn owls are highly nocturnal birds with a heart-shaped face. They love to eat mice. Most nests are in grain elevators, old barns, and similar places.

Snowy owls visit Missouri during some winters and not others. Their numbers peak here about every four years due to a lack of space for territories after a very successful breeding season.

The great horned owl has wide-set ear tufts and a white throat. After dark, you can identify it by its three to eight deep hoots grouped in a pattern, such as “hoo h'HOO, HOO, HOO.”

The long-eared owl is strictly nocturnal and highly secretive by day. This crow-sized owl hunts over open country at night.

The short-eared owl is commonly active during day as well as night. A prairie species, it hunts while flying low over grasslands, with a buoyant, mothlike flight. The short ear tufts are difficult to see.