Owls in Kentucky
Our list for Kentucky has 5 owls recorded regularly there: 3 residents, 1 winter visitor and 1 passage migrant
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Kentucky in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 5, most common first
Barred OwlStrix variaResidentUncommon43–50 cmRecorded all year
Great Horned OwlBubo virginianusResidentUncommon46–63 cmRecorded all year
Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asioResidentUncommon16–25 cmRecorded all year
Short-eared OwlAsio flammeusWinter visitorUncommon34–43 cmRegularly Nov–Mar
Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicusPassage migrantRare17–21 cmRegularly Oct–Nov
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Northern Saw-whet Owl 17–21 cm
- Eastern Screech-owl 16–25 cm
- Short-eared Owl 34–43 cm
- Barred Owl 43–50 cm
- Great Horned Owl 46–63 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