West · Central Flyway
Owls in Colorado
Owls in Colorado come down to 10 species with regular eBird records, led by the Great Horned Owl. Together they account for 70,583 of the 16 million eBird records from 2020–2024 — 0.4% of everything reported in the state.
The full list: Great Horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, American Barn Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Flammulated Owl, Short-eared Owl and Boreal 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 Colorado: 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) — 49,532 records, 0.3% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
2. Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) — 8,558 records, 0.05% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from April to September and peaking in June.
3. Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) — 3,015 records, 0.02% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from September to September and peaking in February.
4. Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) — 2,708 records, 0.02% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
5. American Barn Owl (Tyto furcata) — 1,787 records, 0.01% of the state’s eBird total; a passage migrant, reported mainly in April, May, August and September with a peak in September.
6. Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) — 1,695 records, 0.01% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from October to June and peaking in December.
7. Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii) — 1,288 records, 0.01% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from November to March and peaking in December.
8. Flammulated Owl (Psiloscops flammeolus) — 700 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from May to July and peaking in June.
9. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) — 676 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a passage migrant, reported mainly in January and March with a peak in January.
10. Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus) — 624 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a passage migrant, reported mainly in January, March, April and September with a peak in April.
When to see owls in Colorado
Adding up every species’ share of state eBird records month by month, owls are most prominent in March, February and January and least in June and July. 2 of the 10 species are year-round — Great Horned Owl and Northern Pygmy-Owl — so there is no month without them.
Summer visitors. Burrowing Owl arrives around April and is mostly gone after September (peak June); Flammulated Owl arrives around May and is mostly gone after July (peak June).
Winter visitors. Eastern Screech-Owl arrives around September and leaves after September (peak February); Northern Saw-whet Owl arrives around October and leaves after June (peak December); Western Screech-Owl arrives around November and leaves after March (peak December).
Passage migrants. American Barn Owl is reported mainly in April, May, August and September; Short-eared Owl is reported mainly in January and March; Boreal Owl is reported mainly in January, March, April and September.
Attracting owls to Colorado 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 Colorado the owl most likely to turn up is the Great Horned Owl, a year-round resident, followed by the Northern Pygmy-Owl.
Owls in Colorado: FAQ
How many species of owls are there in Colorado?
10 species of owls have regular eBird records in Colorado (at least 25 records in 2020–2024): Great Horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, Eastern Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, American Barn Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Flammulated Owl, Short-eared Owl and Boreal Owl.
What is the most common owl in Colorado?
The Great Horned Owl, with 49,532 eBird records in 2020–2024, followed by the Burrowing Owl with 8,558. It is a year-round resident, reported in every month.
When is the best time to see owls in Colorado?
March, February and January, when the combined share of Colorado eBird records belonging to owls is highest. Summer visitors such as the Burrowing Owl arrive around April. Winter visitors such as the Eastern Screech-Owl arrive around September.
More birds in Colorado
Owls in other states
Owls in Colorado: 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: Colorado 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.