The great horned owl, also known as the tiger owl or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extremely adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas. Its primary diet is rabbits and hares, rats and mice, and voles, although it freely hunts any animal it can overtake, including rodents and other small mammals, larger mid-sized mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.
Image: Bubo virginianus 06
Image: Bubo virginianus Canada 6
Great horned owl showing much of its camouflage pattern/color
The eyes of great horned owls are among the proportionally largest of terrestrial vertebrates.
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes, which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl.
Owl
Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia)
Cross-eyed owl
USSR stamp, 1979