Class:
Aves
Order:
Strigiformes
Scientific Name:
Strix varia
Range:
Southern Canada, eastern & midwestern U.S., Mexico
Habitat:
Forests, especially deep, dark woods
Diet:
Wild: Small rodents, birds, fish, turtles, tortoises
Zoo: Strip beef, baby chicks, mice
Gestation:
28 to 32 days
Litter:
2 to 4 eggs; usually 2
Life Span:
Unknown
Description:
Overall length – 16 to 24 inches. Wingspan – 38 to 50 inches. This is a large, rotund, gray-brown woodland owl with a puffy dome-shaped head and big, liquid black eyes. The most striking feature is a ruff of feathers, barred crosswise, on the puffy upper breast, and bold lengthwise streaks on the rest of the under-parts. The amount of richness of brown in the plumage increases from north to south; the palest birds in east-central Canada, and the darkest in extreme south Mexico.
Did You Know?
Also known as: Rain Owl; Wood Owl; Swamp Owl.
Where in the Zoo?
I can be found in the Conservation Education Programs at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
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