The long-eared owl is around 15-16 inches (38-40.6 cm) in length with a wingspan of around 40 inches (101.6 cm).
It has long ear tufts that are set very close together and can’t be seen when the owl is flying. The long-eared owl is brownish-gray with a vertical streaking pattern. It has a chestnut-colored facial disk with small white patches set under bright yellow eyes.
The long-eared owl lives in dense coniferous and deciduous forests from sea level up to 6,562 feet (2,000 m) in elevation.
It inhabits areas near water, including streams and desert oases. The long-eared owl also lives near grasslands, wetlands, marshes, and farmland.
With their excellent eyesight and hearing, the long-eared owl hunts almost exclusively at night. It hunts mostly from the ground or from low areas in trees.
The long-eared owl preys on small mammals like voles, deer mice, kangaroo rats, and pocket gophers. It is also known to eat small snakes, birds, and insects.
To kill its prey, the long-eared owl bites the back of the skull and swallows the animal whole.
The long-eared owl breeds from February to July and pairs are monogamous. The male will put on an aerial display and fly in a zig-zag pattern above potential nesting sites. The long-eared owl sometimes nests in loose colonies.
The female long-eared owl lays 2-10 eggs over the course of 30 days in a stick nest that was built by other species of birds. The eggs are white, smooth, and glossy. The female incubates the eggs for 25-30 days, taking short breaks to hunt at night.
After hatching, chicks leave the nest at 21 days. At this point, the chicks are unable to fly, but instead spend time in nearby brush. When they are 35 days old, the chicks learn to fly. They leave their parents after 10 to 11 weeks.
The long-eared owl has an average lifespan of 4 years. The oldest long-eared owl on record was 12 years old.
The long-eared owl is very quiet during the day and hard to detect. They are experts at camouflage and are able to stretch out their slender bodies and compress their feathers so they look like a tree trunk.
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There are no recent records of the long-eared owl breeding in New Hampshire, but it may winter in the state, although not in large numbers.
The long-eared owl is found from Eastern Canada to the Northeast U.S. and from central Canada south through California, Texas, and northern Florida.
The long-eared owl winters in the southern part of its range.
It also lives in Europe, Asia, and northern and eastern Africa.
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