{"id":132465,"date":"2022-12-26T22:36:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T02:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdfinding.info\/?p=132465"},"modified":"2023-12-15T23:01:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T03:01:44","slug":"great-gray-owl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdfinding.info\/great-gray-owl\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Gray Owl"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u00a9 Pekka Malinen<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\nhttps:\/\/birdfinding.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/XC715843-Great-Grey-Owl-Strix-nebulosa.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u00a9 Bruce Lagerquist<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Birdfinding.info \u21d2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Uncommon to rare over most of its large range.\u00a0 In the U.S., Sax-Zim Bog in Minnesota is probably the most consistent, readily accessible site.\u00a0 Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas also support a sizeable population, as do the mountains of western Montana and adjacent Idaho.\u00a0 In Canada, the foothills west of Calgary (including Bluerock Wildland Provincial Park and Route 40) and Route 307 east of Winnipeg are fairly consistent, accessible areas.\u00a0 In Europe, it is found somewhat regularly around Helsinki and is seen consistently in northern Finland around Oulu.\u00a0 In Siberia, accessible areas with high densities include Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Great Gray Owl<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Strix nebulosa<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Family: Strigidae<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Taiga and montane coniferous forests of Eurasia and North America.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Approximate distribution of the Great Gray Owl.\u00a0 \u00a9 Xeno-Canto 2022<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Throughout its large range, it typically prefers landscapes that combine mixed coniferous and deciduous forests with meadows or bogs, and it often patrols the margins between wooded and open habitats.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Great Gray Owl, S. n. nebulosa<\/em>, alighting on a fencepost in northern Alberta.\u00a0 \u00a9 Bob Bowhay<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In Eurasia, it is resident across the taiga from northern and central Sweden, Finland, Belarus, and northern Ukraine east to the Anadyr Peninsula and Sakhalin.\u00a0 During the 2000s, it has extended its range southwest, with recent first-time breeding records in Estonia, Latvia, and eastern Poland.<\/p>

In North America, resident from central Alaska east through forested regions of Canada to western Quebec, and south in several mountain ranges into the western U.S., including the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, the Blue Mountains, and the Rockies (south to northern Utah).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Populations in some regions are notably nomadic, wandering in response to prey population collapses and bonanzas.\u00a0 This results in winter irruptions, sometimes small and sometimes large, into portions of western and southern Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and in North America south and east into the northern Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River Valley.<\/p>

Vagrants sometimes wander to the Pacific lowlands anywhere from British Columbia to northwestern California, the southern Great Lakes, the Maritime Provinces, southern New England, and Pennsylvania.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Identification<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

Distinctive: a very large, mostly gray owl with a prominent white \u201cbow-tie\u201d marking on the bottom of its well-defined facial disk.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Great Gray Owl, S. n. nebulosa<\/em>, dorsal view with head rotated to look backward.\u00a0 (Big Bar Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia; June 2022.)\u00a0 \u00a9 Braden Judson<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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One of the world\u2019s largest owls by measurements, though its overall size is enhanced by a long tail and a large head, so it is less massive than other owl species of comparable length.<\/p>

The head often appears almost spherical except for the flattened facial disk, which is roughly circular and strikingly patterned with concentric pale and dark rings in a radiating pattern around the eyes.\u00a0 In the center of the facial disk is a prominent pale-gray X between the eyes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Great Gray Owl, S. n. nebulosa<\/em>, ventral view, showing mixed pattern of streaks and bars on the underparts.\u00a0 (St. Louis County, Minnesota.)\u00a0 \u00a9 Alex Sundval<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The eyes are bright-yellow and the bill is yellowish.\u00a0 Its eye color distinguishes it from all other Strix<\/em> owls that occur in or near its range.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The plumage has a vermiculated pattern comprised of various shades of gray, sometimes much browner on the upperparts.<\/p>

Eurasian and American populations differ most noticeably in the pattern on the underparts.\u00a0 Eurasian birds typically show bold longitudinal streaks, whereas American birds typically have a subtler pattern of mixed barring and streaking.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Great Gray Owl, S. n. lapponica<\/em>, side view showing enormous head size and slightly concave facial disks\u2014also note bold streaks on the underparts, typical of lapponica<\/em>.\u00a0 (Helsinki, Finland; March 1, 2013.)\u00a0 \u00a9 Pekka Malinen<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Great Gray Owl, S. n. lapponica<\/em>, ventral view in flight, showing dark terminal band on the tail.\u00a0 (Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland.)\u00a0 \u00a9 Matti Rekil\u00e4<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Eurasian birds typically show a distinct dark-gray terminal tail-band, whereas American birds usually show only a subtle tail-band, if any.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVoice.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Male\u2019s typical call is a series of five to twelve low, mellow hoots, spaced at an average of about 0.5 seconds apart.\u00a0 In a given series, the hoots often become more excited and closely spaced, then subside: