Quote:
Originally Posted by Bagor
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Based on the body type and size, I think we can rule out Flamulated, pygmy, screech, burrowing, boreal, and saw-whet. Probably hawk, too, although it's difficult to get an exact feel for the size. It looks medium to largish, but if it's more toward the medium side, then hawk is a possibility.
Snowy, barn, and great grey all have pretty distinctive colour patterns that this one doesn't seem to have. And with the snowy owl, southern alberta would be very unusual for their summer range, which is usually the high-arctic.
I think great horned, short-eared, and barred are the three most likely candidates. I have seen great-horned owls semi-active in the day, at least as far as sitting on a prominent perch and then flying to a new perch if it perceives anyone getting too close. But I agree that the tufts are usually quite prominent. This one might have about a single pixel-worth of tuft on its left, but it's hard to tell if that's on the owl or part of the foliage behind.
If it's truly active during the day (ie. seems to be hunting, rather than just roosting and observing), then I would agree on the short-eared.
Listening to the hoots and comparing it to recordings should be really clear for deciding between them.
