owl - nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyeshorned owl - large owls having prominent ear tufts barred owl, Strix varia - large owl of eastern North America having its breast and abdomen streaked with brown Otus asio, screech owl - small North American owl having hornlike tufts of feathers whose call sounds like a quavering whistle scops owl - any of several small owls having ear tufts and a whistling call spotted owl, Strix occidentalis - a large owl of North America found in forests from British Columbia to central Mexico; has dark brown plumage and a heavily spotted chest hoot owl - any owl that hoots as distinct from screeching hawk owl, Surnia ulula - gray-and-white diurnal hawk-like owl of northern parts of the northern hemisphere barn owl, Tyto alba - mottled buff and white owl often inhabiting barns and other structures; important in rodent control |