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Bird

Long-eared Owl

Asio otus

Lives in West Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 55 counties, across 11 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
11

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
11
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in West Virginia 11

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

1 of 11

Mountain balds

Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.

SummerWinterSouthern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

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

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

Moist forests

Woods Scene
SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic ForestHarvey Joiner, Woods Scene: tall beeches in a moist Kentucky woodland, light falling through a closed canopy onto a damp forest floor. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky beech woods (Harvey Joiner, Louisville painter of Kentucky beech forests; the painting does not name the site), a neighboring state.Woods Scene, Harvey Joiner, c. 1880-1920. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

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

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems

Hemlock forests

Shady, evergreen forests of eastern or Carolina hemlock, often along rocky mountain streams and in gorges.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest

Moderately dry forests

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

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest

Rich cove forests

Sheltered, moist mountain hollows and lower slopes with deep, fertile soil.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest

Shale barrens

Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.

Spruce-fir forests

Cool, evergreen forests of red spruce and Fraser fir on the highest mountains.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

SummerWinterBeside its main habitat.Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems
Other habitats in its models (29)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia. Those recorded in West Virginia first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (6)
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
  • Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Northeast (3)
  • Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
Midwest (7)
  • North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer and winter.
  • North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
  • North-Central Oak Barrens Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (13)
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
  • Recently Burned Shrubland Summer and winter.
  • Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.

All habitats

Seasons in West Virginia

  • Year-round: nests here, in 12 of 55 counties.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 52 of 55 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in West Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 96

Plants 905

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in West Virginia

Mountain balds

Birds 34

Plants 65

All of mountain balds in West Virginia

Dry forests and woodlands

Birds 88

Plants 192

All of dry forests and woodlands in West Virginia

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources