West · Pacific Flyway
Owls in Arizona
Owls in Arizona come down to 10 species with regular eBird records, led by the Great Horned Owl. Together they account for 99,226 of the 20 million eBird records from 2020–2024 — 0.5% of everything reported in the state.
The full list: Great Horned Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Burrowing Owl, Elf Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, American Barn Owl, Flammulated Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Short-eared Owl. Owls are mostly nocturnal hunters, so they are far more often heard than seen; learning the calls is how most people find them. Several species nest in tree cavities or old woodpecker holes, and a few use open nest boxes.
Owls in Arizona: every species, most-reported first
Every owl with at least 25 eBird records in the state from 2020–2024, most-reported first. The status label is derived from each species’ own monthly share of all state records.
1. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) — 44,636 records, 0.2% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
2. Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii) — 14,039 records, 0.07% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
3. Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) — 9,908 records, 0.05% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
4. Elf Owl (Micrathene whitneyi) — 9,630 records, 0.05% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to July and peaking in May.
5. Whiskered Screech-Owl (Megascops trichopsis) — 8,477 records, 0.04% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from March to August and peaking in May.
6. Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) — 5,606 records, 0.03% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to October and peaking in May.
7. American Barn Owl (Tyto furcata) — 5,224 records, 0.03% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
8. Flammulated Owl (Psiloscops flammeolus) — 928 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to July and peaking in June.
9. Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) — 632 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from October to June and peaking in April.
10. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) — 146 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a passage migrant, reported mainly in January, February and March with a peak in January.
When to see owls in Arizona
Adding up every species’ share of state eBird records month by month, owls are most prominent in May, June and April and least in November and December. 4 of the 10 species are year-round — Great Horned Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Burrowing Owl and American Barn Owl — so there is no month without them.
Summer visitors. Elf Owl arrives around April and is mostly gone after July (peak May); Whiskered Screech-Owl arrives around March and is mostly gone after August (peak May); Northern Pygmy-Owl arrives around April and is mostly gone after October (peak May); Flammulated Owl arrives around April and is mostly gone after July (peak June).
Winter visitors. Northern Saw-whet Owl arrives around October and leaves after June (peak April).
Passage migrants. Short-eared Owl is reported mainly in January, February and March.
Attracting owls to Arizona backyards
You cannot feed owls, but you can host them: mature trees, a nest box of the right dimensions for the local species, and a yard without rodenticide (which poisons the owls that eat the rodents) are what matter.
In Arizona the owl most likely to turn up is the Great Horned Owl, a year-round resident, followed by the Western Screech-Owl.
Owls in Arizona: FAQ
How many species of owls are there in Arizona?
10 species of owls have regular eBird records in Arizona (at least 25 records in 2020–2024): Great Horned Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Burrowing Owl, Elf Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, American Barn Owl, Flammulated Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Short-eared Owl.
What is the most common owl in Arizona?
The Great Horned Owl, with 44,636 eBird records in 2020–2024, followed by the Western Screech-Owl with 14,039. It is a year-round resident, reported in every month.
When is the best time to see owls in Arizona?
May, June and April, when the combined share of Arizona eBird records belonging to owls is highest. Summer visitors such as the Elf Owl arrive around April. Winter visitors such as the Northern Saw-whet Owl arrive around October.
More birds in Arizona
Owls in other states
Owls in Arizona: sources
Every number on this page comes from the EOD – eBird Observation Dataset published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and distributed through GBIF under a CC BY 4.0 license: Arizona records from 2020–2024, retrieved 2026-09-18. Species are drawn from the families Strigidae and Tytonidae; only species with at least 25 records are listed, and a species is called a year-round resident when its monthly share of state records stays above 30% of its own peak in ten or more months. “Records” are individual eBird observations, so they reflect how often birders report a species, not a population count.