Owls in North America

What does a bored zoo nerd do on a stormy afternoon? He sits down and compiles another species holder list to keep updated.

Owls are finally here, and actually not very many species around in numbers. But I'm sure Barn, Great Horned, Eastern Screech, and Barred Owls will quickly shoot pretty high with additional adds and corrections.

Information used goes back to 2018, since larger owls are fairly long-lived and the general dearth of information for 2020.

 

Tytonidae

Tyto

Barn Owl (41-44 holders)

Akron?
ASDM
Beardsley
Bergen County
CALM
Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Carolina Raptor Center
Cascades Raptor Center
Catoctin
Chehaw
Cheyenne Mountain
Cleveland Museum of NH
Columbian Park
Cosley
Edmonton Valley
Elmwood Park
Folsom
Franklin Park
Honolulu?
Howell Nature Center
Keystone Safari
Living Treasures
Livingston Ripley
Maine Wildlife Park
Milwaukee?
Nashville
Oklahoma City
Orange County
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Point Defiance
Reptile Gardens
Roer’s Zoofari
San Francisco
Saskatoon Forestry Park & Zoo
Save Our Seabirds
The Living Desert
Toledo (European?)
Turtle Bay Exploration Park
Western North Carolina Nature Center
Willowbrook Wildlife Center
Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium
World Bird Sanctuary (European?)
ZooAmerica


Philodus

Oriental Bay Owl

Audubon?

 

Off the bat for this I know Cincinnati has eurasian eagle owl, Omaha has burrowing owl, and that Louisville and Lincoln Park has snowy owl.

 

Strigidae

Megascops

Western Screech-Owl (5-7 holders)

ASDM
CALM
Cascades Raptor Center
Racine?
The Living Desert
World Center for Birds of Prey
Zoo Boise?

Eastern Screech-Owl (31 holders)

3 Palms
Akron
Anita Purves Nature Center
Audubon Sharon
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Bear Mountain State Park
Bergen County
Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Carolina Raptor Center
Cincinnati
Cosley
Discovery Place Nature
Great Plains
Great Plains Nature Center
Houston
Jenkinson’s Aquarium
Lee Simmons
Leesburg Animal Park
Living Treasures
Louisville
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Patricia and Philip Frost Museum of Science
Sandoway Discovery Center
Scovill
St. Louis
The Zoo in Forest Park
Upper Schuylkill Valley Park
Wildwood
Willobrook Wildlife Center
Zoo Tampa


Ptilopsis

Southern White-faced Owl (3 holders)

Bronx
Metro Richmond
Sacramento


Pulsatrix

Spectacled Owl (19 holders)

African Lion Safari
Brights
Canadian Wildlife Park
Carolina Raptor Center
DAK
DWA
Edmonton Valley
Fort Worth
LA
Lake Superior
Metro Richmond
Safari North Wildlife Park
San Francisco
St. Louis
Tanganyika Wildlife Park
Toronto
Tulsa
Woodland Park
World Bird Sanctuary


Bubo

Great Horned Owl (59-60 holders)

ABQ Biopark
African Lion Safari
Alaska
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Animal Adventures
Aquarium of Quebec
ASDM
Audubon Sharon
Austin
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Bear Creek Pioneers Park
Bear Mountain State Park
Beardsley
Binder Park
Bronx
CALM
Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Cape May
Carolina Raptor Center
Cascades Raptor Center
Catoctin
Claws & Paws
Cleveland Museum of NH
Cohanzick
Cosley
Dallas
Hemker
High Desert Museum
Indian Creek
Irvine Park & Zoo
Jack R. Facente Serpentarium
Lake Superior
Lee Simmons
Leesburg Animal Park
Living Treasures Laurel Highlands
Maine Wildlife Park
MacKenzie Center
Manitowoc Lincoln Park
McCarthy Wildlife Center
Minnesota
Navajo Nation
Ochsner Park
Oklahoma City
Phillips Park
Pine Grove
Sacramento
Salmonier Nature Park?
Santa Barbara
Saskatoon Forestry Park & Zoo
Seaside Seabird Sanctuary
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
St. Louis
Staten Island
The Living Desert
Toronto
Turtle Back
Upper Schuylkill Valley Park
Western North Carolina Nature Center
Wildwood
Zollman

Eurasian Eagle Owl (31 holders)

African Lion Safari
Animal Adventure Park
Aquarium of Quebec
Boulder Ridge
Brights
Bronx
Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Cape May
Cascades Raptor Center
Central Park
Cincinnati
Claws & Paws
Edmonton Valley
Gulf Breeze
Jacksonville
LA
Lake Superior
Luray
Milwaukee
Natural Bridge
Omaha
Riverbanks
Rosamond Gifford
Roscommon
Safari North Wildlife Park
San Diego
San Francisco
The Wild Animal Park
Toronto
Virginia Safari Park
World Bird Sanctuary

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Woodland Park

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl (Milky Eagle Owl) (8-9 holders)

African Lion Safari
Cincinnati
Dallas?
DAK
Fort Worth
Oregon
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
World Center for Birds of Prey
Zoo Atlanta

Snowy Owl (30-31 holders)

African Lion Safari
Alaska
Assiniboine Park
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Bergen County
Big Bear Alpine
Bronx
Brookfield
Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Cascades Raptor Center
Howell Nature Center
Indian Creek
John Ball
Lehigh Valley
Lincoln Park
Louisville
Maryland
NEW
Ochsner Park
Rockton
Roger Williams Park
Salmonier Nature Park?
Seneca Park
Staten Island
The Zoo in Forest Park
Toledo
Toronto
Tulsa
Woodland Park
Zollman
ZooAmerica


Glaucidium

Northern Pygmy-Owl (1 holder)

Point Defiance


Micrathene

Elf Owl (1 holder)

ASDM?


Athene

Burrowing Owl (38 holders)

ABQ Biopark
ASDM
Assiniboine Park
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
Brandywine
Bronx
CALM
Calgary
Cascades Raptor Center
Charles Paddock
DWA
Edmonton Valley
Elmwood Park
High Desert Museum
Houston
Lake Superior
Living Coast Discovery Center
Knoxville
Memphis
National?
National Aviary
NEW
North Carolina
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Phoenix
Queens
Sacramento
Salisbury
San Antonio
San Diego
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
San Francisco
Saskatoon Forestry Park & Zoo
St. Louis
The Living Desert
ZooAmerica
Zoo Miami


Ciccaba

Chaco Owl

African Lion Safari
Carolina Raptor Center


Strix

Spotted Owl (4 holders)

Mountain View Conservation & Breeding Center
Northwest Trek
Sequoia Park
Wildlife Center of NM

Barred Owl (51 holders)

Animal Adventures
Aquarium of the Americas
Audubon Sharon
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Bear Creek Pioneer’s Park
Bear Mountain State Park
Beardsley
Binder Park
Calgary
Cape May
Carolina Raptor Center
Cascades Raptor Center
Catoctin
Cincinnati
Cleveland Museum of NH
Edmonton Valley
Elmwood Park
High Desert Museum
Howell Nature Center
Indian Creek
Irvine Park & Zoo
Jack R. Facente Serpentarium
Lee Simmons
Lehigh Valley
Long Island Aquarium
Luray
MacKensie Center
Maine Wildlife Park
McCarthy Wildlife Sanctuary
National Aviary
North Carolina
Ochsner Park
Plumpton Park
Popcorn Park
Rosamond Gifford
Saginaw Children’s Zoo
Santa Fe Teaching Zoo
Save Our Seabirds
Shedd Aquarium
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
The Zoo in Forest Park
Toronto
Tracy Aviary
Turtle Bay Exploration Park
Upper Schuylkill Valley Park
Westwood Hills Nature Center
Willowbrook Wildlife Center
World Bird Sanctuary
Zollman
ZooAmerica
Zoo Tampa

Tawny Owl (3 holders)

African Lion Safari
Hawk Creek Wildlife Center
World Bird Sanctuary

Ural Owl (2 holders)

African Lion Safari
World Bird Sanctuary

Great Gray Owl (4 holders)

Alaska
Calgary
Canadian Raptor Conservancy
Woodland Park


Asio

Long-eared Owl (2 holders)

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
ZooAmerica

Short-eared Owl (1 holder)

Lee Simmons


Aegolius

Northern Saw-whet Owl (5 holders)

Audubon Sharon
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary
Cascades Raptor Center
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
World Bird Sanctuary


Ninox

Boobook sp

African Lion Safari

 

Jumping ahead of things there, three of those four were already on my list.

 

Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo held the Hawaiian subspecies of this when I visited in 2017.

Neither of these species were on-exhibit when I visited earlier this year.

 

I think it's now gone.

The Spotted Owl at Northwest Trek is apparently a education animal, @Ituri mentioned it at one point not too long ago.

Good to know on the Pygmy-owl, there is a photo from 2019, but they typically don't live particularly long so it has probably passed then.

 

Only 3 ??? How different from Europe ! ZTL lists 33 collections keeping this species and for the Northern White-faced owl - apperently not kept at all in North America ? - even 66 European collections are keeping it !

 

Yeah the population is pretty low. I think we only have 7 birds if I recall correctly from awhile ago, most of which are related and only 1 or 2 females. Chances are good they'll disappear by next decade unless someone imports them.

 

Eurasian Eagle Owl & Snowy Owl at Minnesota Zoo.
Barred Owl & Snowy Owl at Dodge Nature Center.

I didn’t know they were the only holder! Are these at all common to find in the wild?

 

Assuming these are educational animals or for the bird show, right?

 

I don't think Milwaukee or Toledo keep Barn Owl anymore.

Gabbert Raptor Center keeps Barn Owl.

Yes, World Bird Sanctuary keeps the British subspecies of Barn Owl.

Yes, Racine keeps Western Screech-Owl.

Gabbert Raptor Center keeps Eastern Screech-Owl.

Wildwood Wildlife Park (not related to Wildwood Zoo) keeps Great Horned Owl.

Gabbert Raptor Center keeps Great Horned Owl.

Minnesota probably still keeps Eurasian Eagle-Owl.

Ochsner Park no longer has Snowy Owl.

Gabbert Raptor Center keeps Barred Owl.

Wildwood Wildlife Park keeps Barred Owl.

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary keeps Short-eared Owl.

Gabbert Raptor Center keeps Northern Saw-whet Owl.

 

Minnesota still has one Eurasian Eagle Owl as a program animal. Gabbert’s Raptor Center also had a Boreal Owl in 2017.

 

Toronto no longer has snowy owls. Crystal was transferred out sometime in 2020, maybe 2019. No one is really sure on the date. As for the barred owl, Charlotte, I'm not sure. She is an outreach animal and I'm not sure she's been seen in a very long time. Could still be there but also might not. That one might be a question mark beside Toronto. Likewise Toronto may or may not have a barn owl. Terry arrived a couple of years back, was on display then moved to the kids zoo or outreach. I haven't heard one way or another if he's still alive. He wasn't too old they figured (rescue) so unless he got sick or something in theory he's still around.

 

Boreal Owl is no longer listed on their website.

 

A couple of Kansas entries for you:

DAVID TRAYLOR ZOO (Emporia, KS)
Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl

HUTCHINSON ZOO (Hutchinson, KS)
Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl

 

Roger Williams Park Zoo- Barn Owl
Animal Adventures Family Zoo- Great-horned and Eastern Screech Owls

 

@EsserWarrior Didn't you mention an import of this species?

 

I did. I don't think the person ever ended up doing it though. They fell off the face of the Earth... at least with their online presense. They were going to import a breeding pair from European holders and attempt to breed them. I was scheduled to receive one of the offspring, but I do not think that it is going to happen.

 

Overall owl-diversity ( less then 25 species ) seems to be very low in North America, are owls so unpopulair overthere ? In Europe there are even special owl-collections and others with a heavy focus on owls ( Uilen en dierenpark ( = owl and animalpark ) de Paay and Vogelpark Timmendorfer Strand ( had back in the 1980s about 60 owl species and subspecies ! ) spring in mind. Aren't there any specialist-collections in the US or Canada ? And in private collections, are there at least some more species and / or holders ?