Owls as omens: Origin, Meaning and When It Actually Started

Q: How old is this superstition?

First recorded: Roman era; owls appear as death omens in Pliny and Virgil. 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.

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 about 1,976 years old

Rank by age 8 oldest of 40 dated here

Category Animals

Searched 1,090 a month

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.

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.

Other animals superstitions

Black cat crossing your path 3,670/mo Bird omens 1,180/mo Crows as omens 790/mo Ladybug superstitions 390/mo Death omens 310/mo Spider superstitions 170/mo Butterfly omens 110/mo Cricket superstitions 90/mo Bat superstitions 90/mo

Recorded around the same time

Owls as omens is the 8th oldest of the 40 dated superstitions here. Of those, 6 are younger than a century and 5 predate the common era.

Breaking a mirror 50 Itchy palm 50 Moon superstitions 50 Ringing in the ears 50

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 →