“Northern Hawk Owl, More Hawk Than Owl”

Hawklike in both appearance and behavior, this owl is primarily active during the day in the boreal forests of northern Canada and Alaska. Yellow eyes peer from a whitish face with a V-shaped speckled head and distinctive black borders. They are otherwise brown with whitish spots and heavy horizontal barring along the front and underparts. Hawk owls are nonmigratory but do move around, tracking available prey. At times, it can be seen in southern Canada and the northern US. They perch along the tops of solitary tall trees, flying fast and low between trees and sometimes hovering. Once prey is spotted, they attack in very fast flight, like falcons. 

Habitat is typically open mixed-forest areas with trees for perching and nesting. Males and females choose a nest site, including holes in trees created by woodpeckers or in naturally decayed hollows and broken tree trunks. They do not add material to the nest hole, but the floor of the nest hole tends to accumulate pellets and fur from prey brought into the nest. 

Diet is mainly small mammals, especially voles, in the summer. They also eat birds such as grouse or ptarmigan in the winter. Hawk Owls take advantage of abundant prey by caching small mammals to eat later, storing them in tree crevices, holes in trees, or among dense spruce boughs. Hunting and courting take place within their territory during the breeding season. A male trying to court a female flies in circles with its wings held stiff while singing; then he lands on a prominent perch where he calls for a mate. Once paired, the male offers food to his mate and continues to feed her during incubation. Pairs stay together for a single breeding season. Northern Hawk Owls tend to be solitary year-round but seem relatively tolerant of other birds, including other owls within their territory. But they are not tolerant of intruders, including humans at the nest site, and will attack any intruder that comes near.

Hawk owls are uncommon, but numbers are hard to gauge with their boreal habitat. Populations likely fluctuate with the availability of small mammal prey that tend to have boom and bust cycles. Forestry practices that clearcut large swaths of boreal forest likely reduce nesting sites and hunting perches for Northern Hawk Owls.

Sources: Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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