Owls in United States
Our list for United States has 13 owls recorded regularly there: 6 residents, 3 summer visitors and 4 winter visitors
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in United States in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 13, most common first
Great Horned OwlBubo virginianusResidentUncommon46–63 cmRecorded all year
Barred OwlStrix variaResidentUncommon43–50 cmRecorded all year
Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asioResidentUncommon16–25 cmRecorded all year
Short-eared OwlAsio flammeusWinter visitorRare34–43 cmRegularly Oct–Jul
Snowy OwlBubo scandiacusWinter visitorRare52–71 cmRegularly Nov–Jun
Burrowing OwlAthene cuniculariaResidentRare19–25 cmRecorded all year
Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicusWinter visitorRare17–21 cmRecorded all year
Western Screech-owlMegascops kennicottiiResidentRare19–25 cmRecorded all year
Northern Pygmy-owlGlaucidium gnomaResidentRare15–17 cmRecorded all year
Elf OwlMicrathene whitneyiSummer visitorRare13–15 cmRegularly Mar–Aug
Flammulated OwlPsiloscops flammeolusSummer visitorRare15–17 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Whiskered Screech-owlMegascops trichopsisSummer visitorRare18–23 cmRecorded all year
Ferruginous Pygmy-owlGlaucidium brasilianumWinter visitorRare15–19 cmRegularly Nov–Jun
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Elf Owl 13–15 cm
- Northern Pygmy-owl 15–17 cm
- Flammulated Owl 15–17 cm
- Ferruginous Pygmy-owl 15–19 cm
- Northern Saw-whet Owl 17–21 cm
- Eastern Screech-owl 16–25 cm
- Whiskered Screech-owl 18–23 cm
- Burrowing Owl 19–25 cm
- Western Screech-owl 19–25 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