Great Horned Owl Call: What It Sounds Like & How to ID This Owl

If you've ever stepped outside on a cold, still evening and heard a deep, soft hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo drifting from the trees, there's a good chance you heard a Great Horned Owl. It's the classic "hoot owl" of movies and campfire stories — and it lives in more of North America than almost any other bird. Here's how to identify it by ear and by sight.

What a Great Horned Owl sounds like

• The territorial hoot: a low, muffled rhythm of usually 4–5 notes, often written as hoo-h'HOO — hoo — hoo, with the second note stressed. It carries surprisingly far on calm nights.
• Duets: pairs often call back and forth. The female's hoot is noticeably higher than the male's, even though she is the larger bird.
• Young owls: in late spring and summer, fledglings beg with a harsh, raspy, hissing scream — nothing like a hoot, and often mistaken for a different animal entirely.
• Alarm: bill-snapping, hisses and barks near a nest.

When do Great Horned Owls hoot?

They're most vocal at dusk and in the hours before dawn. Calling ramps up from late fall through winter, because Great Horned Owls are among the earliest nesting birds in North America — in many areas females are sitting on eggs in January or February, sometimes with snow on their backs. A winter evening walk is the perfect time to listen.

Quick visual ID

• Size: large — about 18–25 inches tall, with a wingspan of roughly 3½–4½ feet.
• "Horns": prominent feather tufts on the head. They're not ears; the real ears are hidden openings on the sides of the face.
• Eyes: large and yellow, set in a rusty or gray facial disk outlined in black.
• Throat: a white patch or "bib," most visible when the owl hoots.
• Body: mottled gray-brown above, finely barred below. Birds in the far north and interior West can be very pale.

Great Horned Owl vs. other owls

One common question: "What owl screams and then hoots?" Often it's a Barred Owl pair, whose duets mix hoots with cackles and screams — or a family of Great Horned Owls with screeching youngsters nearby.

Habitat, hunting and nesting

Great Horned Owls live in forests, deserts, farmland, suburbs and city parks — almost anywhere with some trees and open hunting ground. They hunt mainly at night, taking rabbits, rodents and birds, and are among the few predators that regularly eat skunks. They don't build their own nests; they take over old nests built by hawks, crows or squirrels, or use cliff ledges, tree cavities and even man-made platforms.

Tips for finding one

• Listen at dusk from late fall to early spring, then scan the silhouettes on treetops and utility poles.
• Follow the crows. A mob of loudly cawing crows in daytime is often harassing a roosting owl.
• Look for "whitewash" (droppings) and pellets beneath large conifers.
• Keep your distance, especially near nests, and avoid playing recordings — it stresses territorial birds.

Built for silent hunting

Like most owls, the Great Horned Owl flies almost without a sound. The leading edges of its flight feathers have comb-like serrations, and the trailing edges are soft and fringed, which breaks up the turbulence that makes noise. The result is an approach prey rarely hears.

Hearing is just as important as sight. The facial disk works like a satellite dish, funneling sound toward the ears, and many owls have ear openings set at slightly different heights, which helps them pinpoint where a sound comes from. Great Horned Owls also have extremely strong feet; their grip is far stronger than a human hand's, which lets them take prey as big as rabbits and skunks.

What owl pellets tell you

Owls often swallow small prey whole, then cough up the indigestible fur and bones as a compact gray pellet. Finding pellets under a big pine is a great clue that an owl roosts above. Classroom owl-pellet dissections, usually using sterilized pellets from suppliers, reveal tiny skulls and bones that show exactly what the owl has been eating.

An owl's year

If you find a fluffy owlet on the ground in spring, it is often a normal "brancher" whose parents are nearby. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for advice before moving it.

For night-owl people

Our Great Horned Owl collection pairs the field-guide owl with the "Night Owl Club" design for anyone who'd rather stay up than get up.

FAQ

What does it mean if you hear a Great Horned Owl?

Biologically, it means a resident owl is advertising or defending its territory — often a sign of a pair nesting nearby, especially in winter.

What time of day do Great Horned Owls hoot?

Mostly around dusk, through the night, and just before dawn.

Are Great Horned Owls dangerous to pets?

They are powerful predators and very occasionally take small cats or small dogs left outside at night. Bringing small pets in after dark is the simple precaution.

Do owls really turn their heads all the way around?

Not all the way — but owls can rotate their heads about 270 degrees, which makes up for eyes that can't move in their sockets.

Sources & further reading

• Cornell Lab — All About Birds: Great Horned Owl
• Audubon Guide: Great Horned Owl
• International Owl Center