| Owls in Indiana | Length | Weight | Identification(Color) | Diet/Favorite Food |
| Barn Owl | 12.6-15.8 in (32-40 cm) | 14.1-24.7 oz (400-700 g) | This owl has an overall pale color with dark eyes. They have white on the face, body, and underwings. | They mostly feed on rodents. |
| Great Horned Owl | 18.1-24.8 in (46-63 cm) | 32.1-88.2 oz (910-2500 g) | This owl is mottled gray-brown, with a reddish-brown face and a white patch on the throat. | Mostly rodents and birds. |
| Barred Owl | 16.9-19.7 in (43-50 cm) | 16.6-37.0 oz (470-1050 g) | This owl has a mottled brown and white overall color, with dark brown/black, eyes. | They mostly feed on rodents and insects. |
| Long-eared Owl | 13.8-15.8 in (35-40 cm) | 7.8-15.3 oz (220-435 g) | This is a dark owl with an orange-colored face. The feathers of this bird have black, brown, and buff patterning. | They mostly feed on rodents and insects. |
| Short-eared Owl | 13.4-16.9 in (34-43 cm) | 7.3-16.8 oz (206-475 g) | This owl has a spotted brown color with white underparts. | They mostly feed on rodents and insects. |
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | 7.1-8.3 in (18-21 cm) | 2.3-5.3 oz (65-151 g) | This bird has a mottled brown color with a whitish facial disk and white-spotted head. | They mostly feed on rodents and insects. |
| Eastern-screech Owl | 6.3-9.8 in (16-25 cm) | 4.3-8.6 oz (121-244 g) | This owl is either mostly gray or mostly reddish-brown. They have yellow eyes. | They mostly feed on rodents and insects. |
| Snowy Owl | 20.5-27.9 in (52-71 cm) | 56.4-104.1 oz (1600-2950 g) | These birds are overall white in color with some black and brown spots. They also have yellow eyes. | Mostly rodents and birds. |
Owls In Indiana
Barn Owl
Barn owls have buff backs with white faces, chests, bellies, and underwings. Their cheeks are pronounced, their wings are long and rounded, and their tails are short.
Females have parasite-repelling patches on their chests, and the greater the number of spots a female has, the more the male helps to nest development.
They sleep in peaceful barns during the day and hunt for tiny rodents at night in open areas such as fields and meadows. Barn owls consume their prey whole and vomit pellets twice daily.
The Barn Owl hunts for food mostly by sound since it has the best hearing of any animal investigated. This enables them to seek prey in complete darkness, as well as prey hidden under vegetation or in water.
Nests are built in tree holes, tunnels, abandoned or quiet constructions, and so forth.
The nest is made of regurgitated pellets that were put in a cup by their feet. They lay 2-18 white eggs throughout the course of one to three broods.
Barn Owls, which come in 46 distinct species, may be found on all six continents. Unlike other owls, they scream in a raspy tone rather than hooting.
Great Horned Owl
The Great Horned Owl is the biggest of the owl species, having a gray-brown body and a white patch on the neck. Their wings are big and rounded, and they make a loud hooting sound as they fly.
It is one of North America’s most common owls, and it may be found in a range of habitats, including woods, deserts, cities, and grasslands.
These aggressive predators prey on larger birds and mammals. They will prey on raptors such as ospreys, peregrine falcons, and various owls.
Their varied food includes small rodents such as mice, skunks, geese, and hares, as well as insects, fish, and carrion.
Great Horned Owls build their nests in trees and commonly reuse other species’ nests. They may line the nest with bark, leaves, downy feathers, or pellets on occasion, but not always.
Barred Owl
These massive stocky birds are the size of a crow or a goose. Barred Owls have mottled bellies with vertical and horizontal stripes on the backs and upper chest.
They have brown and white fur that is mottled with vertical stripes on their bellies and horizontal stripes on their backs and upper breast.
Their eyes are black, and they have a rounded tail and a round skull with no ear tufts.
From a lofty perch, they keep an eye out for small species like squirrels, rabbits, birds, and voles. They live in vast old forests, usually near sources of water.
Long-eared Owl
After breeding and migrating from northern states and Canada, Long-eared Owls can be observed in Massachusetts throughout the winter. They are medium-sized, slender owls with shocked faces, about the size of a crow.
Long-eared Owls feature black and brown feathers that are patterned, buff cheeks, big black or buff ear tufts, and yellow eyes.
They are nocturnal and roost in deep forests where they are well camouflaged while yet being close to meadows where they may hunt.
Long-eared Owls feed on small animals such as voles, mice, juvenile rats, and rabbits.
They hunt across wide areas of grassland or pasture by hovering only a few feet above the ground and looking for or listening for activity. They deposit 2-10 white eggs in abandoned stick nests left by other species.
Except during mating season, Long-eared Owls are rarely heard. They make low-pitched hoots and whistles, as well as cat-like whines, shrieks, and meows.
Short-eared Owl
The Short-eared Owl spends the winter in Florida, and some stay until June before migrating north to nest in the United States and Canada. They are around the size of a crow and do not have ear tufts.
Short-eared Owls have a pale face with black-rimmed yellow eyes speckled with black, brown, and white. They have a short tail and broad, rounded wings.
The Short-eared Owl, unlike other owls, hunts all day, especially between dawn and twilight. They hover near the ground, listening for movement from their prey, which includes voles and mice.
Males of these owls may produce up to a dozen hoots during courting, and they may bark, whine, or scream while protecting the nest.
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Saw-whet owls are the smallest owl species in the eastern United States, with big, rounded heads and no ear tufts.
The body of a northern saw-whet owl is dark, with a whitish facial disc, a white-spotted head, and yellow eyes.
Despite the fact that these owls are rarely observed in the wild due to their nocturnal and reclusive character, they produce a piercing, penetrating screech several times in a row.
Northern saw-whet owls spend the day resting in dense woodlands near the trunks of evergreen trees.
Eastern Screech-owl
This small stocky bird comes in grey and red. They are around the size of a robin, but much larger, with a gigantic head and almost no neck. Their striped and patchy camouflage fits in perfectly with tree bark.
On a clear, sunny day, you could see an Eastern Screech-Owl sunning itself in a tree hollow or a frenetic swarm of songbirds swooping down on them.
Pellets piled on top of each other are also a dead giveaway. They produce a vibrating trill as well as a loud, descending wailing sound.
Eastern Screech-Owls consume most small animals, including birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, and amphibians.
They hunt largely at night, but sometimes at dawn and dusk. Before attacking, they normally sit and wait for prey to pass by.
Eastern Screech-Owls rarely make their own nests, preferring to exploit abandoned woodpecker nests or other holes or cavities.
Instead of leaving nesting material in the hole, they deposit their eggs on whatever debris is at the bottom.
Snowy Owls
They’re white birds with black or brown markings, golden eyes, and crow-like features.
They may be difficult to spot against a snowy background, but they prefer to roost at higher elevations where they are more visible. During the mating season, they may create a piercing whistle or a loud croak.
Snowy Owls, unlike other owls, are diurnal and spend the whole summer hunting in the arctic. They also catch flying birds such as ptarmigan and ducks.
In the winter, they eat rodents, rabbits, squirrels, and waterfowl such as ducks and geese.
The Snowy Owl nest is nothing more than a scraped-out hollow in the tundra mud. They seek a windy location where the snow will be blown away, and the nest is repurposed for another purpose.
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