Owls in Montana
Our list for Montana has 11 owls recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 5 summer visitors and 4 winter visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Montana in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 11, most common first
Great Horned OwlBubo virginianusWinter visitorCommon46–63 cmRecorded all year
Northern Pygmy-owlGlaucidium gnomaWinter visitorUncommon15–17 cmRegularly Aug–May
Short-eared OwlAsio flammeusResidentUncommon34–43 cmRecorded all year
Burrowing OwlAthene cuniculariaSummer visitorUncommon19–25 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicusWinter visitorUncommon17–21 cmRecorded all year
Snowy OwlBubo scandiacusWinter visitorUncommon52–71 cmRegularly Nov–Mar
Western Screech-owlMegascops kennicottiiSummer visitorRare19–25 cmRegularly Nov–Sep
Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asioSummer visitorRare16–25 cmRegularly Feb–Dec
Barred OwlStrix variaResidentRare43–50 cmRecorded all year
Flammulated OwlPsiloscops flammeolusSummer visitorRare15–17 cmRegularly May–Jul
Boreal OwlAegolius funereusSummer visitorRare21–28 cmRegularly Mar–Oct
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Northern Pygmy-owl 15–17 cm
- Flammulated Owl 15–17 cm
- Northern Saw-whet Owl 17–21 cm
- Eastern Screech-owl 16–25 cm
- Burrowing Owl 19–25 cm
- Western Screech-owl 19–25 cm
- Boreal Owl 21–28 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