Owl Coloring Pages

• Barn owl: a white, heart-shaped face and a golden-tan back
• Snowy owl: males are almost pure white, and females have dark bars across their feathers
• Great horned owl: the horns are tufts of feathers, not ears
• Burrowing owl: a long-legged owl that nests underground and is often out in daylight
• Elf owl: the smallest owl in the world, about the size of a sparrow
• Screech owl: small and gray or reddish, and it blends into tree bark
• Owlets: baby owls, covered in pale fluffy down
• Patterned owls: feathers swapped for flowers, swirls and scallops

An owl can't move its eyes. They are shaped like tubes and fixed in place, so the owl turns its whole head instead, as far as 270 degrees. Soft, comb-like edges on the wing feathers muffle the sound of flapping, which lets an owl fly almost silently. Most owls hunt at night and swallow small prey whole. Later they cough up a pellet of fur and bones. A group of owls is called a parliament.

Owl feathers are made for hiding, so the real colors are browns, grays, cream and white. Color the face disk first in a pale shade, then work outward. Use rows of small U shapes on the chest and short streaks on the wings, pressing harder at the bottom of each feather. Eyes are where an owl comes alive: bright yellow or orange for most kinds, dark brown for barn owls, with a large black pupil. On the patterned owl pages there are no rules, and jewel-toned markers or gel pens look great.