Long-eared owl
Asio otus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The long-eared owl (Asio otus) is a bird in the owl family Strigidae, part of the order Strigiformes and the subfamily Striginae. It is a small owl with an adult body mass of 297 g, with values from 253 to 308 g reported by sources, and a wingspan of 95 cm.
Quick facts about the long-eared owl
A carnivore of forest habitat with an aerial foraging lifestyle, it is partially migratory and has a geographic range of 27,620,000 km². Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, it has 4.5 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, with an egg incubation period of 27.25 days.
- Weight
- 253 g – 308 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 95 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 27.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 27.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 27.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the long-eared owl?
Photos of the long-eared owl
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the long-eared owl live?
Not recorded
What is the long-eared owl?
The long-eared owl (Asio otus), also known as the northern long-eared owl or informally as the lesser horned owl or cat owl, is a medium-sized typical owl with an extensive range. The genus name, Asio, is Latin for "horned owl", and the specific epithet, otus, is derived from Greek and refers to a small eared owl. It breeds in Europe and the Palearctic, as well as in North America.
This owl prefers semi-open habitats, particularly woodland edge, as they to roost and nest within dense stands of wood but prefer to hunt over open ground. The long-eared owl primarily hunts small rodents, especially voles, but during population cycles of their regular prey, or in arid, insular, or urbanized habitats, it takes diverse prey including birds and insects. The long-eared owl utilizes nests built by other animals, in particular by corvids. Breeding success in this species is correlated with prey populations and predation risks. Unlike many owls, long-eared owls are not strongly territorial or sedentary. They are partially migratory or nomadic. Another characteristic of this species is its partiality for regular roosts shared by a number of long-eared owls at once. The long-eared owl is one of the most widely distributed and most numerous owl species in the world, and due to its very broad range and numbers it is considered a least concern species by the IUCN. Nonetheless, strong declines have been detected for this owl in several parts of its range.
From the Wikipedia article “Long-eared owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long-eared_owl&oldid=1383801236), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the long-eared owl sound like?
Is the long-eared owl endangered?
The long-eared owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the long-eared owl classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- genusAsio
- SpeciesAsio otus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Ascalaphus auritus, Asio abyssinicus otus, Asio arborea, Asio pinus, Asio vulgaris, Otus asio, Otus linnei, Strix otus
Other names and names in other languages (120)
- Cat owlEnglish
- LEOWEnglish
- Lesser horned owlEnglish
- Northern long-eared owlEnglish
- Wilson's owlEnglish
- WaldohrüüleAlbanian
- بومة أذناءArabic
- بومة اذناءArabic
- بومة قرناءArabic
- بومة طويلة الأذنArabic
- CraberoAragonese
- بومه طويلة الاذنEgyptian Arabic
- TubecaAsturian
- Adi qulaqlı bayquşAzerbaijani
- Өкө ябалағыBashkir
- Вушатая саваBelarusian
- Вушастая саваBelarusian
- Вушатая сава (або гугач)Belarusian
- Горска ушата соваBulgarian
- Toud penn-kazhBreton
- mussol banyutCatalan
- Buh̗aChechen
- Пӹлӹшӓн тыманаMari
- ᏥᎩᎵCherokee
- Хӑлхаллӑ тӑманаChuvash
- Хăлхаллă тăманаChuvash
- kalous ušatýCzech
- Ùszatô sowaKashubian
- Tylluan GorniogWelsh
- Tylluanod CorniogWelsh
- SkovhornugleDanish
- WaldohreuleGerman
- ΝανόμπουφοςGreek
- ordinara orelstrigoEsperanto
- Longorela orelstrigoEsperanto
- Búho chicoSpanish
- Búho cara caféSpanish
- Búho Cara CanelaSpanish
- kõrvukrätsEstonian
- Hontz ertainBasque
- جغد گوش درازPersian
- sarvipöllöFinnish
- kattúlaFaroese
- KattúglaFaroese
- hibou moyen-ducFrench
- HurnüülNorthern Frisian
- ÇusFriulian
- HoarnûleWestern Frisian
- Ceann caitIrish
- comhachag adharcachScottish Gaelic
- Comhachag adharcaicheScottish Gaelic
- comhachagan adharcachScottish Gaelic
- Bufo pequenoGalician
- Hullad eairkaghManx
- ינשוף עציםHebrew
- mala ušaraCroatian
- LěsawaUpper Sorbian
- erdei fülesbagolyHungarian
- Ականջավոր բուArmenian
- EyruglaIcelandic
- Gufo comuneItalian
- トラフズクJapanese
- ოლოლიGeorgian
- МэзжьындуKabardian
- Чаба хулахkjh
- Құлақты жапалақKazakh
- 칡부엉이Korean
- Kundê şaxkidarKurdish
- Ula kernekCornish
- HuereilLuxembourgish
- BëscheilLuxembourgish
- Hiŋháŋ kapʼípilaLakota
- Ciuitalld
- mažasis apuokasLithuanian
- ausainā pūceLatvian
- ушест бувMacedonian
- Планински бувMacedonian
- നെടുഞ്ചെവിയൻ മൂങ്ങMalayalam
- QattusMaltese
- Соотон гуйвангаMongolian
- Burung Hantu Telinga PanjangMalay
- Néʼéshjaaʼ yázhíNavajo
- लामकाने लाटोकोसेरोNepali
- RansuilDutch
- hornugleNorwegian
- DuganèlOccitan
- WewenjiganooOjibwa
- Hou-houPicard
- Uszatka zwyczajnaPolish
- UszatkaPolish
- uszatka (zwyczajna)Polish
- CiochPiedmontese
- MochoPortuguese
- bufo-pequenoPortuguese
- Piv mesaunRomansh
- Ciuf de pădureRomanian
- Ушастая соваRussian
- УханRusyn
- Кулгаахтаах мэкчиргэYakut
- RuccaruSicilian
- Hornit houletScots
- BealljeloaðguNorthern Sami
- bealljeloađguNorthern Sami
- bealljeloatkuNorthern Sami
- myšiarka ušatáSlovak
- mala uharicaSlovenian
- Bufi veshëgjatëAlbanian
- UtinaSerbian
- УтинаSerbian
- Мала ушараSerbian
- CuccumeňSardinian
- hornugglaSwedish
- Bundi wa UlayaSwahili
- Kulaklı Orman BaykuşuTurkish
- Мыйыстыг инек-сокпаTuvinian
- сова вухатаUkrainian
- CiussoVenetian
- KatuulZeelandic
- 長耳鴞Chinese
- 长耳鸮Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the long-eared owl
Other species in the same genus Asio.
Short-eared owl
Asio flammeus
Marsh owl
Asio capensis
Stygian owl
Asio stygius
Abyssinian owl
Asio abyssinicus
Striped owl
Asio clamator
Madagascar owl
Asio madagascariensis
CompareLong-eared owl vs Short-eared owlLong-eared owl vs Marsh owlLong-eared owl vs Stygian owlLong-eared owl vs Abyssinian owl
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the long-eared owl?
The long-eared owl is a bird, an owl in the family Strigidae and the order Strigiformes.
How big is the long-eared owl?
The long-eared owl is a small owl with an adult body mass of 297 g, with values from 253 to 308 g reported by sources. Its wingspan is 95 cm.
Is the long-eared owl endangered?
No. The long-eared owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the long-eared owl live?
The long-eared owl has a lifespan of 27.8 years according to sources.
How many eggs does the long-eared owl lay?
The long-eared owl has 4.5 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, and the eggs are incubated for 27.25 days.
Is the long-eared owl migratory?
Yes, the long-eared owl is partially migratory. Its geographic range covers 27,620,000 km².
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Long-eared owl (Asio otus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-eared-owl
“Long-eared owl (Asio otus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-eared-owl.
@misc{long_eared_owl_2026,
title = {Long-eared owl (Asio otus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-eared-owl},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}