An owl hooting at night
In much of Europe an owl calling near a house was once a sign of death or illness.
Animals superstition
Owls as omens
Owls as omens: an owl calling near a house means a death is coming. First recorded: Roman era; owls appear as death omens in Pliny and Virgil. That makes it around 2,000 years old — joint 15th oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- Roman era see the history below
- Written down in
- 1867 Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire
Record: John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867).
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
Roman era; owls appear as death omens in Pliny and Virgil
That makes it
around 2,000 years old
Rank by age
Joint 15th oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Animals
Nocturnal, silent in flight and with forward-facing eyes like a human face — the combination made owls unsettling to agricultural societies that were asleep when owls were active. Rome treated an owl call as a death omen; the deaths of several emperors were reported as foretold this way.
14 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 18 later, while 12 share its date.
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Primary source
As it was written down in 1867
“In Lancashire we still dislike the moaning or hooting of owls and the croaking of ravens, as much as the Romans did of old.”
John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867) — read the original text.
Harland and Wilkinson make the Roman comparison themselves: the hooting owl was a bird of ill omen in Rome too.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
Wisdom and protection
In ancient Greece the little owl belonged to Athena, and seeing one before battle meant victory.
Owl in the daytime
An owl seen in daylight is widely taken as a warning, because it is out of its natural time.
Messenger of the ancestors
Some Native American traditions see owls as messengers from the dead — a warning in some nations, a guide in others.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
Folk remedies included turning your pockets inside out, throwing salt into the fire, or tying a knot in a handkerchief when an owl hooted.
Where it lives today
Owls have moved from omen of death to symbol of wisdom in popular culture, and in Japan the word for owl, fukurō, is read as "no hardship", making them lucky charms.
What people say
An owl calling near a house means a death is coming.What is going on
Owls call more in autumn and near territory boundaries — the timing reflects breeding cycles, not households.Where it applies. Reversed in Greece and Japan, where the owl is wisdom and good fortune. Athena's owl is the same bird Rome feared.
Nearest in age
Owls as omens are joint 15th oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Owls As Omens: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/owl-omens/
For Wikipedia
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