Asio otus Downsview Park Toronto2🦉

Photo: Mykola Swarnyk · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesStrigiformesStrigidae
Birds

🦉Long-eared Owl

Asio otus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The long-eared owl, also known as the northern long-eared owl or, more informally, as the lesser horned owl or cat owl, is a medium-sized species of owl with an extensive breeding range. The genus name, Asio, is Latin for "horned owl", and the specific epithet, otus, is derived from Greek and refers to a small eared owl. The species breeds in Europe and the Palearctic, as well as in North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, of the family Strigidae, which contains most extant species of owl.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Photos
2
Measurements
12
vs you
≈ 1/210th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
0.3 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
28 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Long-eared Owl

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.3 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.25 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.14 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.28 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.04 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
28 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
27 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 5
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Carnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Forest
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Aerial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.3 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Long-eared Owl yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderStrigiformes
  5. ›familyStrigidae
  6. ›genusAsio
  7. ›speciesAsio otus
Full lineage
  1. orderSauria
  2. classBirds · Aves
  3. orderOwls · Strigiformes
  4. familyStrigidae
All 11 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderOwls · Strigiformes
  11. familyStrigidae
More

More about the Long-eared Owl

Closest relative on this site
🦉 Eurasian Eagle-owl — last shared an ancestor ≈ 30 million years ago.
In other languages
长耳鸮 (zh), uszatka zwyczajna (pl), Asio otus (es), erdei fülesbagoly (hu), بومة طويلة الأذن (ar), hornuggla (sv) … and 27 more languages
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