Northern Hawk Owl

Rare Winter Owl

Northern Hawk Owl

 The Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula) is a rare migrant and winter resident to New Brunswick.

'Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List' says that it is so rare that the sighting of half a dozen of them in one season constitutes a flight year.  Most reports are in December and January.  There have been a few breeding reports from the province over the years, from Tabusintac, Grand Manan, Point Lepreau, and near Fundy National Park.  

The Northern Hawk Owl is a circumpolar species.  It is diurnal which is common for most northern species.  Its pointed wings and long tail make it very hawk-like, hence its name.  Its flight is swift and it often hovers.  It can be seen perched on top of a conifer or other structure from which it watches for voles or other rodents.  

Being a northern species, Northern Hawk Owls have learned to catch all available food when it can.  Since owls do not have crops (an enlargement of the esophagus) they have to store excess food elsewhere.  Northern Hawk Owls store their extra food in snow drifts, woodpecker holes in trees, in decaying stumps or they just tuck it into the boughs of coniferous trees.  

Northern Hawk Owl

The normal range of this species is from Newfoundland and Labrador across northern Canada to Yukon and Northwest Territories with occasional incursions to the south.  It is a medium-sized (41 cm/ 16 in long) slender owl with brown upper parts spotted with white and with brown horizontal stripes on a light gray breast.  Its eyes are yellow.  The long tail is very noticeable.  The only species an amateur birder might confuse with the Northern Hawk Owl is the Boreal Owl which is much smaller and also rare here.  It is only 25 cm (10 in) long.  

Male owls court females by circling and gliding on stiff wings. The nest is normally built in a woodpecker hole, a hollow stump or an abandoned raptor nest.  Three to thirteen white eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 25-30 days.  The young fledge after 25-35 days.  

The Northern Hawk Owl vocalizes mainly at night.  Females and juveniles make a screeching sound or a whistle.  Courtship sounds are a series of rising 'popopopo' sounds lasting about 6 seconds.  This sounds much like the Boreal Owl call which most birders are familiar with.  The female sometimes sings along with the male.  

The Northern Hawk Owl is also known as the Canadian Owl or the Hudsonian Hawk Owl.  It  has the unusual feature (for an owl) of stiff feathers which are not silent in flight like the soft feathers of most owls.  Apparently this is not an important feature for a diurnal northern owl.  The population size for this species is healthy and is listed as 'least concern'.