Bird

Great Horned Owl

Bubo virginianus

Lives in Alabama all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 26 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 26

Male Great Horned Owl, whole bird — **Male**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 353833538. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 67 counties
Habitats: 26
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Alabama 26

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 26

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont CliffNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trees and rocks on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea ModifierRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Interior Calcareous Cliff; East Gulf Coastal Plain Dry Chalk Bluff; Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland; Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and BarrensLimestone cedar glade. Shown: Cedar Glade Number 5, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Catoosa County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Cedar Glade Number 5, Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP, Catoosa County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Interior Acid Cliff; Southern Appalachian Granitic Dome; Cumberland Sandstone Glade and BarrensSolution pits on granite. Shown: Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, DeKalb County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Solution pits, Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, DeKalb County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and WoodlandLimestone prairie. Shown: Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Georgia, a neighboring state.Grand Prairie, Coosa Valley Prairies, Floyd County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

Year-roundUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation; East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock; Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Year-round

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Year-round

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods; South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest

Pine flatwoods

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Year-roundDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Disturbed, Non-specific; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

Year-roundMississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

Year-roundOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Cumberland Riverscour; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

Year-roundDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundBeside its main habitat.East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest; Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Year-roundBeside its main habitat.Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest; East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest

Other habitats in its models (203)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama.

Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
Quarries, Mines, Gravel Pits and Oil Wells Year-round.
Open Water (Aquaculture) Year-round.
Barren Land Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Year-round.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Year-round.
Unconsolidated Shore Year-round.
Upper Texas Coast Beach Year-round.
Louisiana Beach Year-round.
Southeast Florida Beach Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Year-round.
Southwest Florida Beach Year-round.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Year-round.
Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Year-round.
Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Year-round.
North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Year-round.
North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus Year-round.
Southern Appalachian Montane Cliff Year-round.
Southern Appalachian Rocky Summit Year-round.
Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round.
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Year-round.
South Florida Pine Rockland Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Year-round.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Year-round.
Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Year-round.
Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Year-round.
Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Year-round.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Appalachian Shale Barrens Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Year-round.
Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Year-round.
Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Year-round.
East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round, beside its main habitat.
Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Year-round.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Year-round.
Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub Year-round.
Tamaulipan Mesquite Upland Scrub Year-round.
Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub Year-round.
North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Year-round.
North-Central Oak Barrens Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Year-round.
Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier Year-round.
Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Year-round.
Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Year-round.
Central Mixedgrass Prairie Year-round.
North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
Central Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Year-round.
Florida Dry Prairie Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Year-round.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Year-round.
Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald Year-round.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
Recently Burned Grassland Year-round.
Recently Burned Shrubland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Year-round.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Year-round.
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Year-round.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Year-round.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Year-round.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Year-round.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Year-round.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Year-round.
Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Year-round.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Year-round.
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Year-round.
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Year-round.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Year-round.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Year-round.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Year-round.
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Year-round.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Year-round.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
South Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.