Hawk Owl Facts

This unique and magnificent owl is the only member of the Surnia genus.

The Hawk Owl is an eye-catching bird with a square, flat-topped head outlined in black on each side. Its hawkish qualities are seen in its fierce gleaming eyes beneath a lowered brow and the long tail drooped almost vertically beneath its perch.

Over long distances, the flight of the Hawk Owl mixes long glides with bursts of quick wingbeats, not unlike that of the Sparrow Hawk. The soft, loose feather fringes, which assist silent flight in other owls, are hardly noticeable on this “hawk” Owl.

These owls chase their food and are quite capable of hovering when hunting like a Kestrel.

Hawk Owls hunt by day, even in the brightest sunshine, but they also search for prey throughout the lighter nights of the northern summer when they have young to feed.

This is a precise hunter of voles, small birds and other rodents, chasing them through the cold and pine-scented forests of the northern parts of America, Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and China. He has the stripy t-shirt of a hawk, the bulky wings and the feather taloned boots of an owl.

When you combine these special weapons and tactics you simply have
the fabulous and unique Hawk Owl.