The Great Gray Owl is the tallest owl in North America and one of the most magnificent, a huge, ghostly gray bird with an enormous round facial disk, comparatively small yellow eyes, and a white "bowtie" beneath the chin. For all its imposing size it is mostly fluff and feathers, weighing less than the bulkier Great Horned or Snowy Owls, its great dimensions an adaptation to the cold northern forests where it lives. It hunts by sound as much as sight, its huge facial disk funneling the faint noises of voles moving beneath the snow.
A bird of the boreal forest, the Great Gray Owl plunges through snow to seize prey it hears but cannot see, a remarkable feat of acoustic hunting. It comes south only rarely and irregularly, in winters when prey crashes in the north drive birds out, and in Michigan it is a rare and irregular winter visitor, most likely in the Upper Peninsula, favoring boreal forest and adjacent openings, bogs, and meadow edges. A Great Gray Owl in Michigan is a spectacular event, and an irruption year can draw birders from across the country.
Feeds almost entirely on small mammals, especially voles, which it locates largely by sound using its huge facial disk and captures by plunging through snow or dropping from a perch. Its hunting success and winter movements are closely tied to vole abundance in the boreal forest.
It is the tallest owl in North America, though much of its bulk is fluffy feathers — it actually weighs less than the Great Horned and Snowy Owls. Its enormous facial disk and long tail add to its imposing size.
It hunts largely by sound, its huge facial disk funneling the faint noises of voles moving beneath the snow to its ears, then plunges through the snow to seize prey it cannot see. This acoustic hunting is remarkable.
As a rare and irregular winter visitor, most likely in the Upper Peninsula, in boreal forest and adjacent openings, bogs, and meadow edges. It appears mainly in irruption winters when prey crashes push birds south.
Fledglings are fluffy gray-brown with a mottled, less defined facial disc and lack the crisp white 'bow tie' at the throat. Any Great Gray in Michigan is a notable record at any age.
Other birds you might be looking at instead.
Pick the park — it takes less than ten seconds.
Start typing the bird's name, then pick it from the list.
Suggest a birding spot to add to the map. I'll review it before it appears.
Thanks! Your suggestion has been sent for review.
Found something wrong or out of date? Tell me what to fix — it goes straight to my inbox. (No email needed.)
Thank you — your note is on its way. I appreciate the help keeping this accurate.