WhenToBird

Bubo virginianus · Strigidae

Great Horned Owl: When and Where to See It

Adult Great Horned Owl
Photo: Michael Warner, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

The Great Horned Owl reaches North Carolina first, around late June, and Pennsylvania last, around late August.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

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0%1%2%3%Jan 1-7: 1.7% of 1114036 checklistsJan 8-14: 1.5% of 824708 checklistsJan 15-21: 1.5% of 825978 checklistsJan 22-31: 1.7% of 1105853 checklistsFeb 1-7: 1.6% of 779772 checklistsFeb 8-14: 1.5% of 864504 checklistsFeb 15-21: 1.4% of 1127933 checklistsFeb 22-28: 1.7% of 840124 checklistsMar 1-7: 1.7% of 839610 checklistsMar 8-14: 1.7% of 870138 checklistsMar 15-21: 1.8% of 898456 checklistsMar 22-31: 1.7% of 1335637 checklistsApr 1-7: 1.7% of 1030617 checklistsApr 8-14: 1.7% of 1124024 checklistsApr 15-21: 1.6% of 1194575 checklistsApr 22-30: 1.5% of 1675723 checklistsMay 1-7: 1.4% of 1449080 checklistsMay 8-14: 1.3% of 1538353 checklistsMay 15-21: 1.1% of 1219898 checklistsMay 22-31: 1.0% of 1452282 checklistsJun 1-7: 0.9% of 900636 checklistsJun 8-14: 0.8% of 829907 checklistsJun 15-21: 0.8% of 773255 checklistsJun 22-30: 0.7% of 916255 checklistsJul 1-7: 0.7% of 717733 checklistsJul 8-14: 0.8% of 658223 checklistsJul 15-21: 0.8% of 638752 checklistsJul 22-31: 0.8% of 895727 checklistsAug 1-7: 0.9% of 655651 checklistsAug 8-14: 1.0% of 650038 checklistsAug 15-21: 1.1% of 654639 checklistsAug 22-31: 1.2% of 974928 checklistsSep 1-7: 1.4% of 765914 checklistsSep 8-14: 1.5% of 738674 checklistsSep 15-21: 1.5% of 750433 checklistsSep 22-30: 1.6% of 944196 checklistsOct 1-7: 1.6% of 760106 checklistsOct 8-14: 1.5% of 793131 checklistsOct 15-21: 1.4% of 728727 checklistsOct 22-31: 1.4% of 959954 checklistsNov 1-7: 1.4% of 709464 checklistsNov 8-14: 1.3% of 693424 checklistsNov 15-21: 1.4% of 653952 checklistsNov 22-30: 1.4% of 871137 checklistsDec 1-7: 1.5% of 627591 checklistsDec 8-14: 1.6% of 642427 checklistsDec 15-21: 2.1% of 775638 checklistsDec 22-31: 1.8% of 1132751 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Pooled across every state in the data, so it leans toward states with the most birders.

States, in order of first arrivals

StatePatternFirst arrivalsPeakMost gone byPeak %
ArkansasSummer visitorJan 22-31Aug 15-21Jan 8-141.9%
ColoradoSummer visitorJul 22-31May 1-7Jun 1-75.2%
WyomingSummer visitorJul 22-31May 8-14Jun 1-72.9%
KentuckySummer visitorJul 22-31Apr 8-14May 8-141.6%
IndianaSummer visitorAug 8-14Apr 8-14May 15-211.7%
OhioSummer visitorAug 15-21Apr 8-14May 15-211.4%
IdahoWinter visitorJun 22-30Mar 22-31May 22-314.4%
North CarolinaWinter visitorJun 22-30Dec 22-31May 8-141.3%
LouisianaWinter visitorJul 1-7Dec 8-14Apr 15-213.2%
GeorgiaWinter visitorJul 8-14Oct 1-7May 15-211.3%
MontanaWinter visitorJul 15-21Mar 15-21May 22-313.3%
IowaWinter visitorJul 15-21Dec 22-31May 22-312.3%
TennesseeWinter visitorJul 15-21Oct 1-7May 15-211.3%
TexasWinter visitorJul 15-21Oct 1-7Jun 1-72.1%
AlabamaWinter visitorJul 22-31Oct 1-7May 15-211.9%
South CarolinaWinter visitorJul 22-31Dec 22-31May 8-141.6%
OklahomaWinter visitorAug 1-7Oct 1-7May 22-312.6%
WisconsinWinter visitorAug 1-7Dec 22-31May 22-312.8%
IllinoisWinter visitorAug 8-14Dec 22-31May 15-212.7%
South DakotaWinter visitorAug 8-14Dec 15-21May 15-215.0%
ConnecticutWinter visitorAug 8-14Dec 22-31May 15-211.3%
MarylandWinter visitorAug 8-14Dec 22-31May 15-211.3%
MissouriWinter visitorAug 8-14Mar 1-7May 15-212.3%
North DakotaWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 8-14Jul 1-74.6%
AlaskaWinter visitorAug 15-21Mar 1-7May 1-71.6%
DelawareWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 22-31May 8-141.9%
MassachusettsWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 22-31May 22-311.6%
MichiganWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 22-31May 15-211.3%
MinnesotaWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 8-14May 22-312.0%
MississippiWinter visitorAug 15-21Oct 8-14May 1-71.9%
New JerseyWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 15-21May 15-211.7%
New YorkWinter visitorAug 15-21Dec 15-21May 22-311.2%
Rhode IslandWinter visitorAug 15-21Nov 15-21May 15-211.2%
PennsylvaniaWinter visitorAug 22-31Dec 22-31May 15-211.6%
ArizonaYear-round–Apr 8-14–3.4%
CaliforniaYear-round–Mar 15-21–3.1%
New MexicoYear-round–May 1-7–3.3%
NevadaYear-round–Jan 15-21–3.6%
KansasYear-round–Sep 15-21–3.0%
NebraskaYear-round–Dec 15-21–2.7%
UtahYear-round–Jan 22-31–2.8%
OregonYear-round–May 22-31–2.3%
WashingtonYear-round–Mar 1-7–2.0%
FloridaYear-round–Dec 8-14–1.9%

Winter visitor in: Idaho, Georgia, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma

Summer visitor in: Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio