Great Horned Owl - Distribution and Ecology

Distribution and Ecology

The breeding habitat of the Great Horned Owl extends from subarctic North America throughout most of North and Central America and then down into South America south to Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of the continent. They are absent from southern Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua to Panama in Central, and Amazonia and the southwest in South America, as well as from the West Indies and indeed most off-shore islands. They are the most widely distributed owl in the Americas.

They are amongst the world's most adaptable owls in terms of habitat. Great Horned Owls can take up residence in trees that include deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests, tropical rainforests, pampas, prairie, mountainous areas, deserts, subarctic tundra, rocky coasts, mangrove swamp forests, and some urban areas. It is less common in the more extreme areas (i.e., the heart of the deserts, extremely dense rainforests and in mountainous areas above tree line), generally absent from non-tidal wetland habitat, and missing from the high Arctic tundra. They prefer areas where open habitats, which they often hunt in, and woods, where they tend to roost and nest, are juxtaposed and thus lightly populated rural regions can be ideal. This species can occasionally be found in urban or suburban areas. However, they do seem to prefer areas with less human activity and are most likely to be found in park-like settings in such developed areas, unlike Eastern and Western Screech Owls (Megascops asio & M. kennicottii) which are regular in suburban settings. All mated Great Horned Owls are permanent residents of their territories, but unmated and younger birds move freely in search of company and a territory, and leave regions with little food in winter.