I started writing about animals in 2022, and wasn’t able to continue until 2024 (the blog was on hold for a while). Since my biggest project of 2024 is updating (and translating) animal articles, this one got updated as well. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the up-to-date article of the LEGO owl figures!
Owls have the widest color range after parrots. As expected, they open their eyes with the Harry Potter theme. We have three owl moulds with closed wings, one with open wings. There’s also an owlet released in 2023.
I was surprised to find out there aren’t any DUPLO owls. A lot of animals came into being through DUPLO sets, but somehow owls remain untouched.
As always, the name of the colors used here are the Bricklink colors. To see a better image of the color, please visit this link, search for the color, and click on its name to go to Rylie Howerter’s Flickr page.
New owls will be added as they are released.
Owls of Harry Potter
The first LEGO owl comes into our lives in 2001. Its mould is different than the ones we see today. Bricklink distinguishes the new and old moulds as angular and rounded.
The first figures are the rounded ones. There are 7 different colors: White, light gray, dark gray, brown, black, tan and reddish brown. They can all be found in Harry Potter sets from 2001, except for the reddish brown – that one comes in 2004. None of these owls are printed.
They are seen in the Harry Potter sets up until 2009. While it’s possible to find them in a few other themes, they mostly stay in the Wizarding World. They haven’t been released after 2010.
Renewed LEGO Owl
The owl changes in 2009, becomes more angular. The unprinted one is in a few sets, mostly used as a statue or a similar accessory. I wasn’t able to find a lot of information about them, so I’m not sure which colors they were released in. The tan and reddish brown seem to be in one set each, the dark tan is listed as a Pick-a-Brick part, and the white is listed as alternates to the old one in two sets. While there are people who sell other unprinted colors, there aren’t any more released with sets.
In 2010, these owls get their prints and start showing up in Harry Potter sets. They are made in white, reddish brown and dark bluish gray, and appear in only Harry Potter sets with a few exceptions. The white represents Hedwig, the reddish brown Pigwidgeon; both can be found in 17 sets. The bluish gray representing Errol is in 5 sets. It’s last seen in 2011, while the other two can still be found in sets today.
A new color is added to the LEGO owl family in 2018: Medium nougat. It comes with the Cho minifigure from the Harry Potter CMF series, and as far as I know, doesn’t have a name.
Two other colors are added in 2020 and 2021: Tan and dark tan. The tan owl manages to jump to other themes as well, appearing in City and Bricklink Designer Program sets (maybe that’s why it’s winking to us :) ). One of the dark tan owls can only be found in Harry Potter sets, and has a barn owl print. The other dark tan accompanies Aurora with a different print, released in 2023.
A new owl!
We get a new owl with the Elves theme in 2015. The proportions of this figure are like the other Friends animals, with a head-body ratio close to 1:1. The eyes are bigger and the colors are mostly less realistic.
Even though it hasn’t appeared in sets this year, it’s possible to find it in various mini-doll themed sets up until 2023. There are 7 different colors made; white, light aqua, bright light yellow, bright pink, reddish copper, dark purple and dark tan.
Spreading wings…
2020 is an important year for the LEGO owl: We see them with their wings spread open for the first time. With Hedwig (white) in the lead, tan, dark orange and sand blue is made in 2022, dark red in 2024. None of these owls have names (except Hedwig, obviously). While the sand blue and dark red stays in the Harry Potter theme, tan manages to appear in BAM parts, dark orange in City sets. It’s also possible to find this mould unprinted in pearl gold and tan.
Teeny tiny!
And here we are at the most striking LEGO owl of all time! Accompanying Hawkeye from the Marvel CMF 2 series is a super cute owlet, coming into our lives in 2023. I have to admit I just love these tiny baby animals (I love the big ones, too, though… anyway…). Opening its eyes in reddish brown, a light bluish gray joins it with Hogwarts Castle Owlery and dark tan with Friends Adventure Camp Tree House – making the owlet one of the few animals that remain the same in both System and Friends sets.
We have a special guest, too. Usually I don’t talk about brick-built animals in these articles, but the head piece of this owl is new and unique. Please welcome Me-Owl from Gabby’s Dollhouse!
That’s it for LEGO owl figures. We have so many; big, small, perching, flying, lots of different colors… I wonder what the future holds for us, owl-wise.
A few comparison images for those who are curious.
Bonus: Two owl-headed minifigures I’ve made using AI.
See you in the next article!
I borrowed some images from Bricklink, Rebrickable, New Elementary, Atlbrick, Steinpalast and eBay. Images of real owls are from the Harry Potter Fandom, Me-owl is from Gabby’s Dollhouse Fandom, image showing Aurora and the owl is from Pinterest. The rest are mine.
Some girls play with Barbie dolls, while others create small worlds with LEGO minifigures and continue to do so when they grow up. You can probably guess which group I belong to :)