West · Pacific Flyway
Owls in Oregon
Owls in Oregon come down to 9 species with regular eBird records, led by the Great Horned Owl. Together they account for 58,328 of the 17 million eBird records from 2020–2024 — 0.3% of everything reported in the state.
The full list: Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Western Screech-Owl, American Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Burrowing Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Flammulated 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 Oregon: 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) — 26,285 records, 0.2% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
2. Barred Owl (Strix varia) — 8,015 records, 0.05% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
3. Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) — 7,205 records, 0.04% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
4. Western Screech-Owl (Megascops kennicottii) — 4,877 records, 0.03% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
5. American Barn Owl (Tyto furcata) — 4,148 records, 0.02% of the state’s eBird total; a year-round resident, reported in every month.
6. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) — 3,100 records, 0.02% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from June to June and peaking in January.
7. Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) — 2,264 records, 0.01% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from January to November and peaking in May.
8. Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus) — 1,986 records, 0.01% of the state’s eBird total; a winter visitor, present mainly from September to May and peaking in February.
9. Flammulated Owl (Psiloscops flammeolus) — 448 records, 0.00% of the state’s eBird total; a summer visitor, present mainly from May to July and peaking in June.
When to see owls in Oregon
Adding up every species’ share of state eBird records month by month, owls are most prominent in January, February and March and least in July and April. 5 of the 9 species are year-round — Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Western Screech-Owl and American Barn Owl — so there is no month without them.
Summer visitors. Burrowing Owl arrives around January and is mostly gone after November (peak May); Flammulated Owl arrives around May and is mostly gone after July (peak June).
Winter visitors. Short-eared Owl arrives around June and leaves after June (peak January); Northern Saw-whet Owl arrives around September and leaves after May (peak February).
Attracting owls to Oregon 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 Oregon the owl most likely to turn up is the Great Horned Owl, a year-round resident, followed by the Barred Owl.
Owls in Oregon: FAQ
How many species of owls are there in Oregon?
9 species of owls have regular eBird records in Oregon (at least 25 records in 2020–2024): Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Western Screech-Owl, American Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Burrowing Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Flammulated Owl.
What is the most common owl in Oregon?
The Great Horned Owl, with 26,285 eBird records in 2020–2024, followed by the Barred Owl with 8,015. It is a year-round resident, reported in every month.
When is the best time to see owls in Oregon?
January, February and March, when the combined share of Oregon eBird records belonging to owls is highest. Summer visitors such as the Burrowing Owl arrive around January. Winter visitors such as the Short-eared Owl arrive around June.
More birds in Oregon
Owls in other states
Owls in Oregon: 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: Oregon 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.