What does it mean when you see an owl?

The short answer

There are two big traditions. In ancient Greece the owl was the bird of Athena, goddess of wisdom, and that is where the "wise old owl" comes from. In many other cultures, owls calling at night were warnings of death or illness. Which one people mean depends heavily on where they grew up.

Athena's owl

The Little Owl was closely tied to Athena and to her city. Athenian silver coins, the tetradrachms of the fifth century BC, carry Athena's head on one side and an owl on the other, and the coins themselves were nicknamed "owls". That link between owls and learning passed down through European art and books, and is why owls appear on school logos and graduation cards.

Owls as omens

Roman writers took the opposite view. Pliny the Elder described the owl as a bird of ill omen, and Roman authors list an owl calling among the signs before the deaths of several emperors. In parts of Britain an owl's hoot near a house was said to announce a death.

In several Native American traditions, including Navajo and Apache, owls are linked with death and the spirits of the dead and are treated with caution. Again, beliefs differ widely between nations and shouldn't be lumped together.

In Hindu tradition the owl, Uluka, is the vahana — the animal mount — of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, though calling someone an owl in Hindi can also mean calling them a fool. One bird can carry both meanings in the same culture.

Hearing an owl at night

If you hear a deep, soft hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo in the US, it is probably a Great Horned Owl, the most widespread large owl in North America. They start calling and nesting in mid-winter, often in January, so winter nights are when you are most likely to hear them. A descending whinny or a soft trill is likely an Eastern or Western Screech-Owl, a small owl that often lives in suburbs. A rhythmic who-cooks-for-you is a Barred Owl.

The practical meaning of an owl calling near your house is that there is a territory there and probably a good supply of rodents. Owls are some of the best pest control a yard can have.

What owls can and can't do

Owls can't turn their heads all the way round. They turn about 270 degrees, using extra neck vertebrae and blood vessels arranged so the flow isn't cut off. Their eyes are fixed in their sockets, which is why they turn their heads so much. Soft fringes on their flight feathers break up the air and make their flight nearly silent. Many hunt as much by sound as sight; a Barn Owl can catch a mouse in total darkness.

As for wisdom, owls are skilled hunters but don't do especially well in the problem-solving tests where crows and parrots shine. The wise owl is symbolism, not science.

Seeing an owl in daytime

An owl seen in daylight isn't necessarily sick. Great Horned and Barred Owls hunt in daylight sometimes, especially when feeding young, and owls flushed from a roost will move in the day. If crows or jays are screaming at one spot in a tree, look there; mobbing birds often lead you straight to a roosting owl.

Owls near your home

Owls are more common in suburbs than most people realise. Eastern and Western Screech-Owls nest in tree holes and will use a nest box about the size of a large woodpecker hole; many people have one nesting in the yard without knowing. Barred Owls live in wooded neighbourhoods across the East. Great Horned Owls hunt from rooftops and light poles at dusk.

Signs of an owl include white droppings below a roost and owl pellets, the neat grey bundles of fur and bone that owls cough up after eating. Pulling a pellet apart shows exactly what the owl has been catching, usually mice and voles. If you find an owl that seems hurt, keep your distance and contact a wildlife rehabilitator rather than picking it up; owl talons are dangerous.