The Long-eared Owl 
No. 211 
Long-eared Owl 
A. 0 . U. No. 366. Asio otus wilsonianus (Lesson). 
Description. — Adult: Above finely mottled white and dusky, with apparently 
half-concealed ochraceous on subterminal margins of feathers, the design broadened 
on wings,—ochraceous, white, and dusky in patches; the wing-quills and tail distinctly 
barred—dusky with ochraceous basally, dusky with gray terminally; ear-tufts conspicu¬ 
ous, an inch or more in length, black centrally, with white and ochraceous edges; 
facial disc tawny; region about base of bill, or at least chin, white; blackish about eyes 
on inner sides, the edges, especially on forehead, finely mottled with black and white; 
tibiae, tarsi, and feet pale tawny, immaculate; remaining underparts white, ochraceous, 
and dusky, in bold, free pattern, and upper breast distinctly and heavily streaked, the 
sides and flanks distinctly barred, the belly exhibiting a combination of the two types; 
lining of wing pale tawny, unmarked basally, save for a dusky patch on tips of coverts, 
heavily barred distally. Bill and toe-nails blackish. The folded wings exceed the tail, 
and the bill is nearly concealed by black and white bristles. Nestlings: Everywhere, 
except on head and lining of wings, finely barred dusky and gray or ochraceous. Length 
330.2-406.4 (13.00-16.00); wing 285.8-304.8 (11.25-12.00); tail 146.1-158.8 (5.75-6.25); 
bill from nostril 16 (.64); tarsus 38.1-45.7 (1.50-1.80). 
Recognition Marks. —Little hawk to crow size; a strongly marked and unmis¬ 
takable species; the “horns” taken in connection with its size are sufficient to identify it. 
Nesting. — Nest: Usually a deserted nest of crow, magpie, heron, etc.; sometimes 
in rock-rifts or even on the ground. Eggs: 3 to 6; subspherical, white (or not infrequent¬ 
ly red-spotted with nest-marks). Av. size 40.6 x 32.8 (1.60 x 1.29). Season: February 
-May; one brood. 
Range of Asio otus. —Eurasia and temperate North America. 
Range of A. 0. wilsonianus. —Temperate North America; breeding from southern 
Mackenzie, Quebec and Newfoundland, south to Virginia, Arkansas, northern Texas, 
and southern California; wintering from southern Canada, irregularly south to central 
Mexico. 
Distribution in California. —Locally resident, chiefly in interior valleys, on 
the oak-covered foothills, and along wooded streams of the Upper Sonoran zone, south 
(at least formerly) to San Diego. Sparingly resident on the Santa Barbara Islands 
(Catalina and San Clemente), and an occasional invader of the higher mountains: 
White Mountains at 10,500 feet, May 26, 1919; San Jacinto Peak at 9000 (Grinnell 
and Swarth); San Bernardinos at 7000 (Willett). Numbers augmented in winter, at 
least in San Diego district and on the edges of the deserts (Palm Springs, Jan. 28, 1913). 
Authorities.—Baird (Otus wilsonianus), Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol. ix., 1858, 
p. 53 (Bodega, Calif.); Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds, vol. i., 1892, p. 328, pi. 12, 
fig. 2 (egg); Fisher , Hawks and Owls of the LT. S., 1893, p. 140, pi. 20 (food); Tyler , 
Condor, vol. xv., 1913, p. 17 (San Joaquin Valley, desc., nest and eggs); Howell, Pac. 
Coast Avifauna, no. 12, 1917, p. 58 (s. Calif, ids.). 
BEING strictly nocturnal in habit, and comparatively silent so 
long as undisturbed, this Owl would almost pass from our ken were it 
not for the easy opportunities afforded by the nesting season. Although 
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