endangered animals

The long-eared owl used to be a common owl in Connecticut in the late 1800s, but in the 1900s the population decreased and now it is an uncommon winter visitor. One of the reasons is that there are fewer farms in the state. Some of these areas have been used for housing and others have become woods again. The owl’s main food sources, voles and mice, now have no place to live. Another reason is that the owl has lost its habitat due to the same development.

The long-eared owl has yellow eyes and a gray and black bill . The long-eared owl is similar in size to a medium-sized great-horned owl. The female is a little bit larger than the male. The female weighs about 9.9 ounces and the male about is 8.6 ounces. The long-eared owl is about 13-16 inches in length and has a wingspan of about 36- 42 inches. Its life span can be about 25 -30 years . Besides voles and mice, the long-eared owl also eats rats and other rodents, young rabbits, and some times small birds and snakes. The long-eared owl lays 4-5 white eggs and it takes about 25-30 days before they hatch. The male brings the food to the nest and the female feeds the young.The young leave the nest about 23-24 days after they are hatched even though they can’t fly until about 30 days . The long-eared owl is usually quiet except during the breeding season. Its common call is a long, single "whooo".

You can help the endangered long-eared owl by mowing open fields and areas to allow the owl’s food supply to increase. You can plant trees around these areas to give the owl a place to live and also reduce the use of pesticides that can contaminate the owl’s food supply.

Resources used: INFOSEEK, WWW
Raptor Center, WWW
Wildlife in Connecticut-CT Dept. of Environmental Protection-Wildlife Division
Various encyclopedias

Nederlandse vertaling volgt z.s.m.

Written by: Holly

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