Out of roughly 19 regular species of owl in North America and 13 regular species of owl in Europe, the long-eared owl is classed as one of the five in both continents to be truly migratory, moving annually in at least some areas and in some numbers from summer to winter grounds and back whether or not it is an irruptive year.
Northern populations are migratory, showing a strong tendency to wander south in autumn.
Some normally young bird from central Europe migrate southwest at distances of up to more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi).
Central European adults are less migratory, at most merely wandering in winter.
Long-eared owls that breed Scandinavia generally migrate to nearly anywhere in Europe, from Great Britain to Southeast Europe, though some may disperse as far as north Africa or Asia Minor.
In Europe, males and females seem to differ slightly in migratory behaviour.
Long-eared owls wintering in Denmark were found to be heavily biased towards females, also there is a bias towards females in winter surveys in other areas such as southern Sweden.
At 10 wintering sites in Europe, females were 36% more common than males.
The hypothesis posited by those that studied the owls in Denmark is that females face a higher rate of predation by larger birds of prey and may distribute away from Fennoscandia where densities are high of those predators and to areas that show low densities of these predators.
Another, non-exclusive, theory is that they may be avoiding areas with deep snow that may inhibit prey capture.
Supporting data that male long-eared owls winter further north than females was gathered in southern Norway, where the recovery of dead owls (from car or powerline collisions) of the species encountered in late fall throughout winter, males were 45% more common than females.
On evidence, many of the females that vacate Norway and even Fennoscandia come to winter in Great Britain (the female migrants here being up to 3.5 times more common during winter than male migrants in one study).
Two birds in ringing studies that were recorded in late winter in Germany were observed to return for the summer to central Russia (near Yaroslavl, 2,050 km (1,270 mi) away) and to eastern Russia (near Kazan, 2,410 km (1,500 mi) away).
Birds that breed in central Asia have been recorded to winter in a wide variety of locales, including the Egyptian Nile valley, Pakistan, northern India and southern China.
In North America, migrants generally sourced from Canada and the Upper Midwest winter almost anywhere in the remaining United States, however they will irruptively migrate as far as Georgia and several areas of Mexico and seldomly in Florida.
Typically the northern limit of the wintering range fall up to the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, the southern reaches of the Upper Midwest and central New England.
Spring migration was tracked along with northern saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadius) as they migrated through Oswego County, New York via mist nets, with the saw-whet considerably outnumbering long-eared owls.
Here, migration of long-eared owl was between March 21 and April 14 and, unlike the saw-whets, the long-eared owl migration does not appear to be effected as extensively by weather conditions.
Long-eared owls are 19.5% of owls (or 197 total owls) recorded migrating through Cape May Point in fall (against a majority, 60.6%, being saw-whet owls), with 26.1% of the specimens from the species caught in the mist nets being adults.
More than 90% of long-eared owls migrate between mid-October and late November, with the immatures migrating earlier, 52.1% of juveniles having passed through in October whereas only 9.4% of adults migrated in the month.
Cape May studies also indicated that 58.87% of long-eared owls were caught in the dark before dawn rather than other times of night.
Based on evidence from Cape May, migrating long-eared owls tend to fly higher above the ground than do migrating saw-whet and barn owls but not as high as the short-eared owl, with the latter owl often able to avoid mist nets apparently via its flying height while
Out of roughly 19 regular species of owl in North America and 13 regular species of owl in Europe, the long-eared owl is classed as one of the five in both continents to be truly migratory, moving annually in at least some areas and in some numbers from summer to winter grounds and back whether or not it is an irruptive year. Northern populations are migratory, showing a strong tendency to wander south in autumn. Some normally young bird from central Europe migrate southwest at distances of up to more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi). Central European adults are less migratory, at most merely wandering in winter. Long-eared owls that breed Scandinavia generally migrate to nearly anywhere in Europe, from Great Britain to Southeast Europe, though some may disperse as far as north Africa or Asia Minor. In Europe, males and females seem to differ slightly in migratory behaviour. Long-eared owls wintering in Denmark were found to be heavily biased towards females, also there is a bias towards females in winter surveys in other areas such as southern Sweden. At 10 wintering sites in Europe, females were 36% more common than males. The hypothesis posited by those that studied the owls in Denmark is that females face a higher rate of predation by larger birds of prey and may distribute away from Fennoscandia where densities are high of those predators and to areas that show low densities of these predators. Another, non-exclusive, theory is that they may be avoiding areas with deep snow that may inhibit prey capture. Supporting data that male long-eared owls winter further north than females was gathered in southern Norway, where the recovery of dead owls (from car or powerline collisions) of the species encountered in late fall throughout winter, males were 45% more common than females. On evidence, many of the females that vacate Norway and even Fennoscandia come to winter in Great Britain (the female migrants here being up to 3.5 times more common during winter than male migrants in one study). Two birds in ringing studies that were recorded in late winter in Germany were observed to return for the summer to central Russia (near Yaroslavl, 2,050 km (1,270 mi) away) and to eastern Russia (near Kazan, 2,410 km (1,500 mi) away). Birds that breed in central Asia have been recorded to winter in a wide variety of locales, including the Egyptian Nile valley, Pakistan, northern India and southern China. In North America, migrants generally sourced from Canada and the Upper Midwest winter almost anywhere in the remaining United States, however they will irruptively migrate as far as Georgia and several areas of Mexico and seldomly in Florida. Typically the northern limit of the wintering range fall up to the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, the southern reaches of the Upper Midwest and central New England. Spring migration was tracked along with northern saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadius) as they migrated through Oswego County, New York via mist nets, with the saw-whet considerably outnumbering long-eared owls. Here, migration of long-eared owl was between March 21 and April 14 and, unlike the saw-whets, the long-eared owl migration does not appear to be effected as extensively by weather conditions. Long-eared owls are 19.5% of owls (or 197 total owls) recorded migrating through Cape May Point in fall (against a majority, 60.6%, being saw-whet owls), with 26.1% of the specimens from the species caught in the mist nets being adults. More than 90% of long-eared owls migrate between mid-October and late November, with the immatures migrating earlier, 52.1% of juveniles having passed through in October whereas only 9.4% of adults migrated in the month. Cape May studies also indicated that 58.87% of long-eared owls were caught in the dark before dawn rather than other times of night. Based on evidence from Cape May, migrating long-eared owls tend to fly higher above the ground than do migrating saw-whet and barn owls but not as high as the short-eared owl, with the latter owl often able to avoid mist nets apparently via its flying height while 
Long-eared owl