Owl Temporal range: Late Paleocene to Recent: 60–0 mya
Little owl (Athene noctua)
Otus jolandae call
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Afroaves
Order:	Strigiformes Wagler, 1830
Families
Strigidae Tytonidae Ogygoptyngidae (fossil) Palaeoglaucidae (fossil) Protostrigidae (fossil) Sophiornithidae (fossil)
Range of the owl, all species.
Synonyms
Strigidae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist

A barn owl

An eagle owl

Earliest known representation: an owl-shaped oil-carrier, c. 640 BC, from Greece

Owls are birds in the order Strigiformes. There are 200 species, and they are all animals of prey. Most of them are solitary and nocturnal; in fact, they are the only large group of birds which hunt at night. Owls are specialists night-time hunters. They feed on small mammals such as rodents, insects, and other birds, and a few species like to eat fish as well.

As a group, owls are very successful. They are found in all parts of the world except Antarctica, most of Greenland, and some small islands.