Skip to Content
Abert’s Towhee Acadian Flycatcher Acorn Woodpecker Alder Flycatcher Allen’s Hummingbird Altamira Oriole American Avocet American Bittern American Black Duck American Coot American Crow American Dipper American Golden-Plover American Goldfinch American Kestrel American Oystercatcher American Pipit American Redstart American Robin American Three-toed Woodpecker American Tree Sparrows American White Pelican American Wigeon American Woodcock Anhinga Anna’s Hummingbird Arctic Tern Arizona Woodpecker Ash-Throated Flycatcher Atlantic Puffin Audubon’s Oriole Bachman’s Sparrow Baird’s Sandpiper Baird’s Sparrow Bald Eagle Baltimore Oriole Band-tailed Pigeon Bank Swallow Barn Owl Barn Swallow Barred Owl Barrow’s Goldeneye Bay-breasted Warbler Bell’s Vireo Belted Kingfisher Bendire’s Thrasher Bewick’s Wren Black Guillemot Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Rail Black Rosy-Finch Black Scoter Black Skimmer Black Swift Black Tern Black Turnstone Black Vulture Black-and-white Warbler Black-backed Woodpecker Black-bellied Plover Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Black-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Magpie Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Vireo Black-chinned Hummingbird Black-chinned Sparrow Black-crested Titmouse Black-crowned Night-Heron Black-footed Albatross Black-headed Grosbeak Black-legged Kittiwake Black-necked Stilt Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-throated Sparrow Blackburnian Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Blue Grosbeak Blue Jay Blue-footed Booby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Blue-headed Vireo Blue-throated Hummingbird Blue-winged Teal Blue-winged Warbler Boat-tailed Grackle Bobolink Bohemian Waxwing Bonaparte’s Gull Boreal Chickadee Boreal Owl Botteri’s Sparrow Brandt’s Cormorant Brant Brewer’s Blackbird Brewer’s Sparrow Bridled Titmouse Broad-billed Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Broad-winged Hawk Bronzed Cowbird Brown Booby Brown Creeper Brown Pelican Brown Thrasher Brown-capped Rosy-Finch Brown-headed Cowbird Brown-headed Nuthatch Buff-bellied Hummingbird Buff-breasted Flycatcher Buff-breasted Sandpiper Bufflehead Bullock’s Oriole Burrowing Owl Bushtit Cackling Goose Cactus Wren California Condor California Gull California Quail California Thrasher California Towhee Calliope Hummingbird Canada Goose Canada Jay (Previously Gray Jay) Canada Warbler Canvasback Canyon Towhee Canyon Wren Cape May Warbler Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Caspian Tern Cassin’s Auklet Cassin’s Finch Cassin’s Kingbird Cassin’s Sparrow Cassin’s Vireo Cattle Egret Cave Swallow Cedar Waxwing Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-backed Chickadee Chestnut-collared Longspur Chestnut-sided Warbler Chihuahuan Raven Chimney Swift Chipping Sparrow Chuck-will’s-widow Chukar Cinnamon Teal Clapper Rail Clark’s Grebe Clark’s Nutcracker Clay-colored Sparrow Cliff Swallow Colima Warbler Common Eider Common Gallinule Common Goldeneye Common Grackle Common Ground-Dove Common Loon Common Merganser Common Murre Common Nighthawk Common Pauraque Common Poorwill Common Raven Common Redpoll Common Tern Common Yellowthroat Connecticut Warbler Cooper’s Hawk Cordilleran Flycatcher Costa’s Hummingbird Couch’s Kingbird Crescent-chested Warbler Crested Caracara Crissal Thrasher Curve-billed Thrasher Dark-eyed Junco Dickcissel Double-crested Cormorant Dovekie Downy Woodpecker Dunlin Dusky Flycatcher Dusky Grouse Eared Grebe Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Phoebe Eastern Screech-Owl Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood-Pewee Elegant Tern Elf Owl Emperor Goose Eurasian Collared-Dove Eurasian Tree Sparrow Eurasian Wigeon European Starling Evening Grosbeak Ferruginous Hawk Field Sparrow Fish Crow Flammulated Owl Florida Scrub-Jay Forster’s Tern Fox Sparrow Franklin’s Gull Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall Gambel’s Quail Gila Woodpecker Gilded Flicker Glaucous Gull Glaucous-winged Gull Glossy Ibis Golden Eagle Golden-cheeked Warbler Golden-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Sparrow Golden-crowned Warbler Golden-fronted Woodpecker Golden-winged Warbler Grace’s Warbler Grasshopper Sparrow Gray Catbird Gray Flycatcher Gray Kingbird Gray Partridge Gray Vireo Gray-cheeked Thrush Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Great Black-backed Gull Great Blue Heron Great Cormorant Great Crested Flycatcher Great Egret Great Gray Owl Great Horned Owl Great Kiskadee Great-tailed Grackle Greater Pewee Greater Prairie-Chicken Greater Roadrunner Greater Sage-Grouse Greater Scaup Greater White-fronted Goose Greater Yellowlegs Green Heron Green Jay Green-tailed-towhee Green-winged Teal Groove-billed Ani Gull-billed Tern Gunnison Sage-Grouse Gyrfalcon Hairy Woodpecker Hammond’s Flycatcher Harlequin Duck Harris’s Hawk Harris’s Sparrow Heermann’s Gull Henslow’s Sparrow Hepatic Tanager Hermit Thrush Hermit Warbler Herring Gull Hoary Redpoll Hooded Merganser Hooded Oriole Hooded Warbler Horned Grebe Horned Lark Horned Puffin House Finch House Sparrow House Wren Hudsonian Godwit Hutton’s Vireo Inca Dove Indigo Bunting Ivory-billed Woodpecker Juniper Titmouse Kentucky Warbler Killdeer King Eider King Rail Kirtland’s Warbler Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lapland Longspur Lark Bunting Lark Sparrow Laughing Gull Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lazuli Bunting Le Conte’s Sparrow Le Conte’s Thrasher Least Bittern Least Flycatcher Least Grebe Least Sandpiper Least Tern Lesser Black-backed Gull Lesser Goldfinch Lesser Prairie-Chicken Lesser Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs Lewis’s Woodpecker Limpkin Lincoln’s Sparrow Little Blue Heron Loggerhead Shrike Long-billed Curlew Long-billed Dowitcher Long-eared Owl Long-tailed Duck Louisiana Waterthrush Lucifer Hummingbird Lucy’s Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Magnificent Frigatebird Magnificent Hummingbird Magnolia Warbler Mallard Mangrove Cuckoo Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Masked Duck McCown’s Longspur Merlin Mew Gull Mexican Jay Mississippi Kite Montezuma Quail Mottled Duck Mountain Bluebird Mountain Chickadee Mountain Plover Mountain Quail Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Mute Swan Nashville Warbler Neotropic Cormorant Northern Bobwhite Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Fulmar Northern Gannet Northern Goshawk Northern Harrier Northern Hawk Owl Northern Mockingbird Northern Parula Northern Pintail Northern Rough-winged Swallow Northern Saw-whet Owl Northern Shoveler Northern Shrike Northern Waterthrush Northwestern Crow Nuttall’s Woodpecker Oak Titmouse Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Osprey Ovenbird Pacific Golden-Plover Pacific Loon Pacific-slope Flycatcher Painted Bunting Painted Redstart Palm Warbler Pectoral Sandpiper Pelagic Cormorant Peregrine Falcon Phainopepla Philadelphia Vireo Pied-billed Grebe Pigeon Guillemot Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Pine Siskin Pine Warbler Pinyon Jay Piping Plover Plain Chachalaca Plumbeous Vireo Prairie Falcon Prairie Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Purple Finch Purple Gallinule Purple Martin Purple Sandpiper Pygmy Nuthatch Pyrrhuloxia Razorbill Red Crossbill Red Knot Red Phalarope Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-breasted Merganser Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-cockaded Woodpecker Red-eyed Vireo Red-faced Warbler Red-headed Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-necked Grebe Red-necked Phalarope Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-throated Loon Red-winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Redhead Ring-billed Gull Ring-necked Duck Ring-necked Pheasant Rock Pigeon Rock Ptarmigan Rock Sandpiper Rose-breasted Grosbeak Roseate Spoonbill Roseate Tern Ross’s Goose Rough-legged Hawk Royal Tern Ruby-crowned Kinglet Ruby-throated Hummingbird Ruddy Duck Ruddy Turnstone Ruffed Grouse Rufous Hummingbird Rufous-capped Warbler Rufous-winged Sparrow Rusty Blackbird Sabine’s Gull Sage Sparrow Sage Thrasher Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow Sanderling Sandhill Crane Sandwich Tern Savannah Sparrow Say’s Phoebe Scaled Quail Scarlet Tanager Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Scott’s Oriole Seaside Sparrow Sedge Wren Semipalmated Plover Semipalmated Sandpiper Sharp-shinned Hawk Sharp-tailed Grouse Short-billed Dowitcher Short-eared Owl Slate-throated Redstart Smith’s Longspur Smooth-billed Ani Snail Kite Snow Bunting Snow Goose Snowy Egret Snowy Plover Solitary Sandpiper Song Sparrow Sooty Grouse Sora Spotted Owl Spotted Sandpiper Spotted Towhee Sprague’s Pipit Spruce Grouse Steller’s Jay Stilt Sandpiper Summer Tanager Surf Scoter Surfbird Swainson’s Hawk Swainson’s Thrush Swainson’s Warbler Swallow-tailed Kite Swamp Sparrow Tennessee Warbler Thick-billed Murre Townsend’s Solitaire Townsend’s Warbler Tree Swallow Tricolored Heron Tropical Kingbird Trumpeter Swan Tufted Puffin Tufted Titmouse Tundra Swan Turkey Vulture Upland Sandpiper Varied Bunting Varied Thrush Vaux’s Swift Veery Verdin Vermilion Flycatcher Vesper Sparrow Violet-green Swallow Virginia Rail Virginia’s Warbler Warbling Vireo Western Bluebird Western Grebe Western Gull Western Kingbird Western Sandpiper Western Screech-Owl Western Tanager Western Wood-Pewee Western-Meadowlark Whimbrel White Ibis White-breasted Nuthatch White-crowned Pigeon White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-faced Ibis White-headed Woodpecker White-rumped Sandpiper White-tailed Hawk White-tailed Kite White-tailed Ptarmigan White-throated Sparrow White-throated Swift White-tipped Dove White-winged Crossbill White-winged Dove White-winged Scoter Whooping Crane Wild Turkey Willet Williamson’s Sapsucker Willow Flycatcher Willow Ptarmigan Wilson’s Phalarope Wilson’s Plover Wilson’s Snipe Wilson’s Warbler Winter Wren Wood Duck Wood Stork Wood Thrush Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay Worm-eating Warbler Wrentit Yellow Rail Yellow Warbler Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Magpie Yellow-breasted Chat Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-headed Blackbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo Yellow-throated Warbler Zone-tailed Hawk

Owl Symbolism & Meaning

Owl symbolism and meaning

Owls are incredible animals and one of the most popular species in the world of birds.

Owl symbolism has been part of legends and myths for centuries, but do you know what owls truly symbolize?

Legends and stories about the magic powers of these birds can be found in civilizations worldwide. Owls are commonly associated with wisdom and transformation.

However, the meaning and symbolism associated with owls vary greatly in different cultures; some believe that owls are evil spirits and associate them with death.

 

Owl Meaning & Symbolism

Depending on the culture or individual, owls can represent a number of different things. Below we will share what owls represented in ancient culture and what they represent today.

In Ancient Greece, owls were connected to Athena, who is the goddess of wisdom. Because of this, they were seen as holy birds. Owls would be unleashed right before a battle to make sure they were victorious. An owl’s hoot was seen as an omen of good fortune, guidance, and protection.

Short-eared Owl

In Native American Culture, owls are believed to be bad omens. Since they’re active at night, they’re associated with mischief, the supernatural, and even death. Their hoots are commonly associated with misfortune, evil spirits, and ghosts.

In Hinduism, owls are associated with the goddess of wealth, so they’re seen in a different light. Hearing an owl hoot is a good omen and signals good luck and immense wealth is coming.

Nowadays, owls represent personal growth and good omens. Owls can teach us a lot and are commonly associated with wisdom and transformation. However, they’re also associated with many other symbols and meanings.

If you’re someone who is drawn to owls and their special traits resonate with you, you’re not alone in that! Owls are special in that they have unique abilities that some even associate with supernatural powers. Because of their unique traits, owls represent a number of awe-inspiring qualities.

Here’s a list of the more common owl symbolizes and meanings:

  • Independence
  • Protection
  • Supernatural powers
  • Courage
  • Strong intuition

 

What Does It Mean When You See An Owl?

It’s not common to see owls because they’re nocturnal. Additionally, they blend into their surroundings extremely well. If you see an owl, consider yourself lucky!

Great Horned Owl

Photographs © Greg Lavaty.

Being visited by an owl or seeing an owl usually means you need to listen to your intuition and inner knowledge. If you encounter an owl, it’s best to ask your angels, guides, or higher self what message is being sent to you. If this doesn’t work and you can’t discover the message, you can meditate and ask that the answer be sent to you then.

Owls often represent discovering a new revelation about yourself. This usually involves finding something in your subconscious that was previously hidden.

If you’re someone who experiences owl sightings frequently or find owls consistently appearing in your daily life, this is usually a sign that the owl is your spirit animal.

They’re really trying to share something with you, whether it be that you’re on the right path or that there’s something you need to know. What you should take away from seeing them all the time is that they’re sending you a message.

Related: Top 10 Fun Owl Facts

What that message is that’s up to you to discover. It’s important to note that the owl could also be your spirit animal, even if you’re not constantly encountering real owls.

Owls that appear in conversations, videos, images, news stories, etc., also count!

 

Spiritual Meaning

Spiritually, owls represent enlightenment and spiritual awakening. Owls are also said to remind you that to have a strong mindset, you need to not let anyone dispute your goals and trust your senses.

It’s believed that seeing an owl means your mind is getting more powerful and you’re becoming aware of what your position in the world.

 

Wisdom

Owls are generally quiet and stealthy creatures, known for their ability to fly silently and blend into their surroundings.

Their calm and observant nature is often associated with wisdom, as wisdom is often associated with the ability to listen and observe before making judgments or decisions.

As we previously mentioned, in Ancient Greece, owls were connected to Athena – the goddess of wisdom.

Barred Owls

 

Transformation

If an owl is your power animal, power animals are a spiritual energy that you call on from within yourself for assistance in a specific situation; you are most likely to be called into a role that brings transformation and change in other people’s lives.

People are likely drawn to you to experience a higher state of being when around you and ask for advice or help as well.

Barred Owl

Photograph © Greg Lavaty.

If you feel that you’ve had to develop “thick skin” and set boundaries to deal with the negativity of others, it’s safe to say you have a connection with these birds.

Owls have an energy that brings up deep subconscious transformation; because of this, many people may deflect their issues onto you or feel uneasy around your energy.

 

Owl Tattoo Meaning

Owl tattoos can represent a lot of different things. However, the most common meaning is that you’re a freethinker who often relies on your instincts.

They can also indicate that you’re looking to understand what the spirit world has to teach you and the more profound mysteries of life. Additionally, they’re a sign that you are someone who believes in the power of magic.

Finally, it’s important to note that tattoos are personal to each person, but understanding the history of what this animal has represented and the owl spirit animal can allow you and others to inspire your tattoo with additional meaning.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an owl a good omen?

In some cultures, yes, owls are good omens. For example, in Ancient Greece, owls were connected to Athena. Therefore, an owl’s hoot was seen as an omen of good fortune, guidance, and protection.

In Hinduism, owls are associated with the goddess of wealth, so they’re seen in a different light. Hearing an owl hoot is a good omen and signals good luck and immense wealth is coming.

However, in some cultures, including Native American culture, owls are seen as omens of death and bad luck. Because of this, owls are feared, avoided, and even killed.

What is the spiritual meaning of the owl?

Spiritually, owls represent enlightenment and spiritual awakening. Owls are also said to remind you to have a strong mindset; you need to not let anyone dispute your goals and trust your senses. It’s believed that seeing an owl means your mind is getting more powerful and you’re becoming aware of what your position in the world.

What does it mean if an owl visits you?

Being visited by an owl or seeing an owl usually means you need to listen to your intuition and inner knowledge. If you encounter an owl, it’s best to ask your angels, guides, or higher self what message is being sent to you. If this doesn’t work and you can’t discover the message, you can meditate and ask that the answer be sent to you then. Owls often represent discovering a new revelation about yourself. This usually involves finding something in your subconscious that was previously hidden.

If you’re someone who experiences owl sightings frequently or find owls consistently appearing in your daily life, this is usually a sign that the owl is your spirit animal. They’re really trying to share something with you, whether it be that you’re on the right path or that there’s something you need to know. What you should take away from seeing them all the time is that they’re sending you a message.

What that message is that’s up to you to discover. It’s important to note that the owl could also be your spirit animal, even if you’re not constantly encountering real owls. Owls that appear in conversations, videos, images, news stories, etc., also count!

Do owls warn you?

Yes, owls do warn you. Owls are said to warn us with their hoots. However, it’s important to note that their hoots can mean different things. Therefore, it’s crucial to interpret on your own what an owl may be trying to tell you.

 

Conclusions

Insects, birds, and mammals can appear in our lives to give us messages or signs.

Depending on your culture, seeing an owl may be good or bad. However, whatever the case may be, if you see an owl, it’s a sign to pay attention!

Listen to your intuition and connect to the spiritual world; you may have an important message waiting for you.

About the Author

Brianna Goulet

Brianna loves to get outdoors for everything creative and fun. She has a passion for birds and is a hobbyist wildlife photographer based in Central Florida. Her goal is to share everything you need to know about birds so you can get out there, explore, and identify confidently!

Let others know your thoughts or ask an expert

Would you like to get new articles of birds (Once a month?)

No SPAM! We might only send you fresh updates once a month

Thank you for subscribing!

No thanks! I prefer to follow BirdZilla on Facebook