What Do Owls Eat?
Answer at a Glance: Most owls eat small mammals, large insects/arthropods, birds, and lizards, but their diet varies greatly when their favorite food source is unavailable.
Owls are opportunistic predators. What they eat depends on several factors, such as species, location, and food availability. Most owls are dietary generalists, meaning they don’t restrict themselves to a single species or narrow range of prey. [1]
Dig Deeper
- Owls That Prefer to Eat Small Mammals
- Owls That Prefer to Eat Larger Prey
- Owls That Prefer to Eat Insects
- Do Owls Eat Bats?
- Do Owls Eat Dogs?
- References
Owls That Prefer to Eat Small Mammals
Most North American owl species add small mammals, such as mice, pocket gophers, and voles, to their diets. However, for several species, small mammals comprise most of their diet. These small mammal “specialists” include boreal owls, barn owls, barred owls, burrowing owls, eastern screech owls, great gray owls, long-eared owls, northern hawk owls, northern pygmy owls, northern saw-whet owls, short-eared owls, spotted owls, and western screech owls. [2]
One study estimated that a barn owl family could remove nearly 3,500 mice annually near their nesting area, suggesting that “barn owl nest boxes could contribute meaningfully to integrated pest management.” [3]
If unavailable, these owls will eat a varied diet that may include small birds, frogs, lizards, and insects. [4]
Owls That Prefer to Eat Larger Prey
The Great Horned Owl also eats mammals, but unlike the other owls that stick to smaller animals, it primarily targets medium-sized prey such as rabbits, squirrels, opossums, and skunks. It also eats geese, ducks, hawks, and other small owls. It will eat lizards, frogs, snakes, scorpions, and insects. [5]
Snowy owls prefer lemmings, likely because they are the most widely available, but they will hunt rabbits, geese, and ducks. [6]
Owls That Prefer to Eat Insects
Several North American owls prefer to eat large insects and arthropods. Elf, ferruginous pygmy, flammulated, and whiskered screech owls like to eat caterpillars, moths, crickets, katydid, beetles, and even scorpions and spiders. [7]
Do Owls Eat Bats?
The National Audubon Society lists bats in the diets of several owl species, including eastern screech-owls, long-eared owls, and spotted owls. Others will eat bats when their preferred food source is unavailable. [8]
Do Owls Eat Dogs?
Owls, like the great horned owl, hunt opossums and skunks, so it would follow that this same owl would consider a cat or small dog to be prey. They aren’t likely to attack when a pet is with its owner – a lesson a few people in a small town in Alaska learned the hard way. Over four days, a great-horned owl attacked several pets in front of witnesses. One small dog and two pet rabbits were found dead, presumably killed by the same owl. It ultimately attacked a small terrier that fought back and killed the owl. [9]
A raptor specialist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Juneau said it’s not common for owls to attack pets. [10]
References
- [1] Anderson M. & Erlinge S. 1977: Influence of predation on rodent populations. Oikos 29: 591–597
- [2][4][7] Owls of the United States and Canada: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior. United States, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007.
- [3] Johnson, M., St. George, D. Estimating the Number of Rodents Removed by Barn Owls Nesting in Boxes on Winegrape Vineyards. Proceedings, 29th Vertebrate Pest Conference (D. M. Woods, Ed.) Paper No. 17. Published August 28, 2020. 8 pp.
- [5] Audubon Field Guide – Guide to North American Birds – “Great Horned Owl.”
- [6] Audubon Field Guide – Guide to North American Birds – “Snowy Owl.”
- [8] Audubon Field Guide – Guide to North American Birds – “Owls.”
- [9][10] Alaska Department of Fish and Game – Alaska Fish and Wildlife News – Great Horned Owl Attacks Pets Unusual Incidents in Copper River Valley
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