A great horned owl has feather tufts on its head that look like horns. The feather tufts are not ears. They are tufts of feathers, and a great horned owl also has a white patch of feathers at its throat, and its feet are covered with feathers. An adult great horned owl is between 18 and 25 inches long, and its wingspan can reach about 1.5 meters (5 feet). The Wildlife Science Center says great horned owls generally weigh between 2.2 and 3.8 pounds, and the Animal Diversity Web gives an average mass of about 1.7 kg for female great horned owls and 1.3 kg for males, and great horned owls are the largest North American owls with ear tufts.

A great horned owl hunts mostly at night. It has large yellow eyes that are nearly as large as human eyes, and its eyes are even larger in proportion to its brain than the eyes of other owls. A great horned owl has keen hearing and keen vision in low light, and an owl turns its head to look around, because its eyes do not move in the sockets. An owl can turn its head about 270 degrees, which is three-quarters of the way around a circle. Special flight feathers let an owl fly down silently. A great horned owl's hoot is low and deep, and you can hear great horned owls hooting at night in winter.

A great horned owl watches from a high perch, then swoops down to catch its food. The Owl Research Institute says its talons can grip prey with up to 28 pounds of force. Great horned owls eat rabbits, rats and squirrels, and up to 90 percent of a great horned owl's diet is mice, voles, squirrels and other small mammals. Great horned owls have the widest prey base of any North American owl. A great horned owl swallows small prey whole, and it coughs up pellets of the bones and fur it cannot digest.

Mated great horned owls stay in their territory all year, and they start nesting early, in winter, and great horned owls do not build their own nests. They use nests built by other large birds, such as hawks and crows. A great horned owl usually lays two or three eggs, and the eggs hatch in about a month. While the female sits on the eggs, the male brings her food, and both parents help feed the young owls. Young great horned owls leave the nest and climb out onto nearby branches at about 5 to 6 weeks old. They can fly well at about 9 to 10 weeks old.

The great horned owl is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas, and it lives across most of North America. Great horned owls are most commonly found in areas where woodland and open fields are mixed together, and they live in many places, including the countryside and cities. Mated great horned owls stay in their territory all year. Great horned owls do not regularly migrate. The Peregrine Fund lists the great horned owl's status as Least Concern, as of November 2026. Great horned owls in captivity may live more than 20 years.

Words to know

• sockets: eye holes
• perch: a high seat
• pellets: small lumps
• talons: sharp claws
• territory: claimed area