Owl ID

[Anne Price]

Hi Gary, et al:

 

It is a long-eared owl; Will Anderson in Boulder (and others) are correct. This LEOW does have a rather light face, however, but the horizontal flank and upper leg barring, and the rusty brown dorsal surfaces of the wing, along with the white "supercilliary" eyebrow type markings are all diagnostic.  The ear tufts are also visible on the perched photos; SEOW tufts are 3/4 of an inch long and are usually only visible when the bird is in camouflage mode with its facial disk scrunched up into a trapezoidal shape, with the eyes half-closed.

 

~Anne Price

Curator of Raptors, Raptor Education Foundation (Adams Co.)