Owls of North America: Every Species and How to Identify It

How many owl species live in North America?

North American owls belong to two families. The barn owl is the only member of the barn owl family (Tytonidae) here; all the others are “typical owls” (Strigidae). Mexico and Central America add many more species, and a few rare vagrants from the tropics or Asia occasionally reach southern Texas or western Alaska.

Great horned owl

The great horned owl is the most widespread owl in North America, found from the Arctic treeline to Mexico and beyond in forests, deserts, farmland and city parks. It is a large, bulky owl with long ear tufts, bright yellow eyes, a white throat patch and fine gray-brown barring below. Its call is a deep, soft series of four to five hoots, often written “hoo-h’HOO-hoo-hoo.”

Great horned owls are powerful predators of rabbits, rodents, skunks and birds, including ducks, crows and even other owls. They nest very early, often laying eggs in January or February in an old hawk or crow nest, so their duets are a classic sound of winter nights.

Barred owl and spotted owl

The barred owl is a large, round-headed owl with no ear tufts, dark brown eyes, brown bars across the upper chest and streaks on the belly. It lives in mature forests and wooded swamps and is famous for its “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” call, along with wild cackling duets. Originally an eastern bird, it spread across Canada during the 20th century and now lives along the Pacific coast from British Columbia to California.

That expansion is bad news for the spotted owl, a smaller, dark-eyed relative with white spots on chocolate-brown plumage. Spotted owls live in old-growth and mature forests from southwestern British Columbia to California and in mountain canyons of the Southwest. Larger, more adaptable barred owls take their territories and food. The northern spotted owl has been listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act since 1990 and the Mexican spotted owl since 1993; in Canada only a handful remain in the wild. The IUCN lists the species as Near Threatened.

Barn owl

The barn owl is easy to recognize by its pale, heart-shaped face, dark eyes, golden-buff back and white or pale buff underparts. It hunts small mammals over grassland, marsh and farmland, flying low and locating prey by sound. Instead of hooting, it gives a harsh, drawn-out screech, and young birds hiss and snore in the nest.

Barn owls live across most of the US but are scarce in the cold North. In Canada they are found mainly in southern British Columbia and very rarely in southern Ontario. They nest in barns, church towers, tree cavities, cliffs and nest boxes.

Owls of the North: snowy, great gray, hawk and boreal owls

The snowy owl breeds on the Arctic tundra of Alaska and northern Canada and is active by day. Adult males are almost pure white; females and young birds are heavily barred with dark brown. In winter many move south to southern Canada and the northern US, turning up on open fields, shorelines and even airports. In some winters, called irruptions, unusually large numbers come far south. The IUCN lists the snowy owl as Vulnerable.

The great gray owl is the longest owl in North America, with a huge round face marked by concentric rings, small yellow eyes and a white “bow tie” under the bill. Much of its size is fluffy plumage, and it weighs less than a large great horned owl. It lives in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska and in western mountains south to the Sierra Nevada, and it can hear voles moving under deep snow before plunging in to catch them.

The northern hawk owl looks and behaves like a hawk, with a long tail, and hunts by day from the very tops of spruce trees. The boreal owl, a small owl with a squarish white face framed in black, hides in dense northern and subalpine forests; its song is a rapid series of hollow toots heard mainly in late winter.

Long-eared and short-eared owls

The long-eared owl is a slim, secretive owl with long, close-set ear tufts and an orange face. It hunts over open ground at night but roosts in dense conifers or thickets, sometimes in winter groups. Its song is a series of long, low hoots.

The short-eared owl lives in open grassland, marsh and tundra and often hunts at dusk and dawn, flying low with floppy, moth-like wingbeats. Its tiny ear tufts are rarely visible, but dark patches around its yellow eyes stand out. Wintering birds can be watched at sunset over large fields and coastal marshes. Its numbers have fallen in many areas as grassland has been lost.

Screech-owls and the flammulated owl

Screech-owls are small owls with ear tufts and yellow eyes. The eastern screech-owl, found east of the Rockies, comes in gray and reddish forms and nests in tree holes and nest boxes in woods, parks and suburbs. Despite the name, it does not screech: it gives a descending horse-like whinny and a long, even trill. The western screech-owl replaces it in the West and is usually gray; its main song is a series of short toots that speed up like a bouncing ball. The whiskered screech-owl lives only in oak and pine-oak canyons of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, where it gives Morse-code-like trills.

The flammulated owl is a tiny, dark-eyed owl of open pine forests in western mountains, with short ear tufts and rusty markings. It eats mainly moths, beetles and other insects, migrates south for the winter and gives soft, low hoots that are surprisingly hard to locate.

Saw-whet and pygmy-owls

The northern saw-whet owl is a small, big-headed owl with no ear tufts, yellow eyes, a white “Y” between the eyes and brown streaks below. It averages about 80 g (2.8 oz). Its song is a steady, repeated “too-too-too,” about two notes a second, sometimes for hours on late-winter nights. The name probably comes from a rasping call said to sound like a saw being sharpened on a whetstone. Many saw-whets migrate south each fall.

The northern pygmy-owl of western forests is tiny but fierce, often hunting by day and taking birds as large as itself. It has a long tail and two dark “false eyes” on the back of its head that may discourage attacks from behind. The ferruginous pygmy-owl of South Texas brushland is similar but browner. Its Arizona subspecies, the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, is now very rare and federally listed as threatened.

Elf owl and burrowing owl

The elf owl is the smallest owl in North America and one of the smallest in the world: 12.5–14.5 cm (4.9–5.7 in) long and about 40 g (1.4 oz). It spends spring and summer in the deserts and wooded canyons of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, often nesting in old woodpecker holes in saguaro cacti, and winters in Mexico. It eats mainly insects and other invertebrates, and its call is a series of high, puppy-like yips.

The burrowing owl is a long-legged owl of open ground that is often active by day. In the West it nests in the burrows of prairie dogs and ground squirrels; Florida’s birds dig their own. When disturbed, the young can make a hissing buzz that sounds like a rattlesnake. Burrowing owls have declined in many areas and are listed as endangered in Canada.

When and where to hear owls

Most owls are easiest to hear on calm nights from December to April, when resident species court and defend territories. Great horned owls start first, often in early winter, followed by barred, screech and saw-whet owls. Migrants such as elf, flammulated and whiskered screech-owls call most from April to June in the Southwest. Snowy and short-eared owls are best seen by day or at dusk over open country in winter.

Good habits keep owls safe: watch from paths and roads, keep your distance from nests and roosts, avoid bright lights, and do not play recorded calls repeatedly, which can stress birds during the breeding season. To learn what these owls hunt, see What do owls eat?. For a European comparison, read owls in the UK.