High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Northern Hawk-Owl (Surnia ulula), or Northern Hawk Owl in North America, is a non-migratory owl that usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owls that is not nocturnal or crepuscular. This is the only living species in the genus Surnia of the family Strigidae, the "typical" owls (as opposed to barn owls, Tytonidae). The species is sometimes called simply the Hawk Owl; however, many species of owls in the Ninox genus are also called "hawk owls".