| True owl Temporal range: Early Eocene to present
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Eastern screech owl | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae Leach, 1819 |
| Type genus | |
| Strix Linnaeus, 1758
| |
| Genera | |
|
some 25, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Striginae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist | |
The true owls or typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owls have a cosmopolitan distribution and are found on every continent except Antarctica.