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The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) is a bird found in United States and Canada. Forests, deserts and cities across the Americas. It eats small mammals and birds and insects and other small invertebrates. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Great Horned Owl lives

Forests, deserts and cities across the Americas.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐭 Mammals & birds90%
• 🐛 Insects & bugs10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Great Horned Owl

Recorded by Peter Mundale (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC959367. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Great Horned Owl

Where does the Great Horned Owl live?

The Great Horned Owl lives in United States and Canada. Forests, deserts and cities across the Americas.

What does the Great Horned Owl eat?

small mammals and birds (about 90%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Great Horned Owl endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

• Kauaʻi ʻamakihi
• Cuban kite
• Recurve-billed bushbird
• Perija starfrontlet
• Zapata rail
• Venezuelan flowerpiercer

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.