Owls in Nova Scotia
Our list for Nova Scotia has 6 owls recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 3 winter visitors and 1 passage migrant
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Nova Scotia in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 6, most common first
Barred OwlStrix variaResidentUncommon43–50 cmRecorded all year
Snowy OwlBubo scandiacusWinter visitorUncommon52–71 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Short-eared OwlAsio flammeusWinter visitorUncommon34–43 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Great Horned OwlBubo virginianusResidentUncommon46–63 cmRecorded all year
Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicusWinter visitorUncommon17–21 cmRegularly Sep–Jul
Long-eared OwlAsio otusPassage migrantRare35–40 cmRegularly Apr
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Northern Saw-whet Owl 17–21 cm
- Long-eared Owl 35–40 cm
- Short-eared Owl 34–43 cm
- Barred Owl 43–50 cm
- Great Horned Owl 46–63 cm
- Snowy Owl 52–71 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made